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Will Smith excluded from huge Oscars honour after Chris Rock altercation

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The 94th Academy Awards will go down in history for many reasons, but one moment we know we’ll all be talking about for some time to come is the heated altercation between Will Smith and Chris Rock.

And now it’s been revealed that the King Richard star’s controversial outburst cost him the chance to take part in one very important Oscars ritual following the ceremony.

Traditonally every year, all four acting award recipients are photographed together proudly displaying their statuettes. The picture often becomes one of the most enduring photos from the awards night, with the quartet of stars seen as representative of that year’s Oscars.

Sadly, due to his altercation with Chris on stage moments before his historic win, Will missed out on the photo op. Instead, fellows winners Jessica Chastain, Troy Kotsur and Ariana DeBose posed for the snaps without him.

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Will was not included in the acting recipients winner photos

Jessica picked up Best Actress for her portrayal as real-life figure Tammy Faye Bakker in biopic The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Meanwhile, Troy became the first deaf man to get an acting award for his supporting role in CODA and West Side Story star Ariana likewise made history as the first openly queer woman to score an Oscar.

Will’s controversial reaction to Chris’s joke about wife Jada Pinkett Smith came towards the end of the 2022 ceremony. As he was presenting the award for Best Documentary Feature, the comedian made a joke about Jada’s shaved head, referring to her as GI Jane.

Will stormed the stage after Chris Rock poked fun at his wife

Following his jibe, Will left his seat in the audience to confront Chris on stage. He then slapped Chris before telling him to “keep my wife’s name out your [expletive] mouth”.

Returning to stage a few minutes later to accept the Best Actor gong, Will was apologetic and gave a tearful acceptance speech, which he began by comparing himself to his King Richard character, who was a “fierce defender of his family.”

“In this time in my life, in this moment, I am overwhelmed by what God is calling on me to do and be in this world,” he said. “I’m being called on in my life to love people and to protect people and to be a river to my people.”

He continued: “I want to be an ambassador of that kind of love and care and concern. I want to apologize to the Academy, I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees. This is a beautiful moment and I’m not crying for winning an award, it’s not about winning an award for me, it’s about being able to shine a light.”

“Art imitates life: I look like the crazy father. Just like they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things,” he said before expressing his hope that the Academy invites him back after the altercation.

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