Will Smith news - live: ‘Heartbroken’ actor’s resignation from the Academy accepted by organisation

As soon as Chris Rock appeared at the packed Wilbur Theatre for the opening show of his Ego Death tour, he was greeted with a 2-3 minute-long standing ovation.

The comedian then went on to address his altercation with Smith.

“Let me be all misty and s***,” he said with tears in his eyes. “I don’t have a bunch of s*** to say about that, so if you came here for that,” Rock said adding: “I had written a whole show before this weekend.”

“I’m still processing what happened, so at some point I’ll talk about that s***. It’ll be serious. It’ll be funny, but right now I’m going to tell some jokes,” Rock, who landed in Boston for his first live show after the Will Smith Oscars incident, said on Wednesday (30 March).

James Corden has accused Will Smith of not being able to “take a joke” after he slapped comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars.

Speaking on his The Late Late Show, Corden directly addressed the controversy from the Oscars where Smith slapped Rock after he made a joke about his wife’s appearance.

“I’ll say this, Will Smith can’t take a joke,” Corden said.

He went on to praise how Rock handled the incident: “Seriously though, I applaud Chris Rock for recovering, keeping the show moving. It was an incredibly dignified response.”

Sam Moore has the full story:

P Diddy has clarified that he “never confirmed” that Will Smith and Chris Rock had reconciled after the Oscars 2022 incident.

After Sunday night’s events unfolded, Page Six reported that P Diddy confirmed at the Vanity Fair Oscars party that Rock and Smith had reconciled after the incident.

However, P Diddy has now set the record straight.

“I never confirmed they had reconciled,” he told TMZ, according to Complex. ”I said, ‘As brothers, they will work it out, and let’s move on with love’.”

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Will Smith was reportedly asked to leave the Oscars after breaking the Academy’s code of conduct, but he refused.

Two sources who were present at the scene told TMZ that David Rubin, the president of the Academy, and CEO Dawn Hudson were “apoplectic” and “furious” at Smith when he refused to leave the venue after slapping Chris Rock.

The sources also said that there was plenty of “yelling” and “heated conversations” backstage with the King Richard actor’s reps after the incident.

Following Sunday’s (27 March) situation, The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has now begun “disciplinary proceedings” against Smith.

Leonie Cooper has the full story:

Donald Glover has shared his thoughts about the most-talked moment of Oscars 2022.

When the 38-year-old actor was asked about Will Smith’s Oscars slap on Jimmy Kimmel Live, he said: “Everybody was kinda just, kinda chatting.”

“I think it felt like you were in someone’s living room. And it just kinda happened,” he added. “To me, I don’t even really wanna get into it. It’s like, whatever.

“People are already tired of it. People are like, ‘Dang, I gotta read another article. It’s been eight articles already.’ And also, like, I’ve had a lot of stuff happen to me while I was telling jokes on stage, that kind of thing.”

Chris Rock has addressed whether he has spoken to Will Smith in the wake of the actor hitting him at the Oscars.

At his first stand-up show since the incident, Rock referenced the matter. Without mentioning Smith’s name, he said of the fallout on Wednesday (30 March): “I haven’t talked to anyone, despite what you heard.”

He also said he is “still processing what happened” during the ceremony, which has become the most talked-about moment despite Coda’s Best Picture victory.

Despite a source close to Rock claiming he “had no idea” Pinkett Smith had alopecia, the comedian is yet to comment on whether or not he did.

Jacob Stolworthy has the full story:

Summer of Soul producer Joseph Patel has criticised Chris Rock for a joke he made while presenting the film with an Oscar.

He wrote on Twitter: “We were in shock walking to the stage not because of winning, but because we, too, were still trying to make sense of what happened.”

While Patel called out Will Smith for slapping Rock, he also expressed anger towards the comedian for claiming Summer of Soul had been made by “Questlove... and four white guys”.

“What I didn’t hear in that moment walking to stage but was told of afterwards is what Chris Rock said when reading our name from the winner’s card,” he tweeted, adding: “WHAT IN THE ACTUAL F***?????”

Patel said that “the reason that makes me SO SO VERY ANGRY is because I was so proud to be one of a handful of South Asians to have ever won an Oscar in the history of the award”.

He added that he was “the third South Asian to win that night” following Riz Ahmed and Aneil Karia’s victory in the Best Live Action Short category for The Long Goodbye.

Jacob Stolworthy has the full story:

A heckler who interrupted Chris Rock’s first comedy show in Boston since the Oscars slap to shout “Will Smith” was reportedly escorted out by security.

It has also been reported that two hecklers tried separately to interrupt Rock’s performance at Wilbur Theatre, shouting “WIll Smith” during his live set.

These chants were met with louder “boo”s from other audience members, Daily Mail reported.

When it happened again, the heckler was escorted out of the premises by security, prompting Rock to ask: “Is this how this tour is going to go?”

Maanya Sachdeva has the full story:

The hairstylist behind Demi Moore’s buzzcut in GI Jane has said he doesn’t understand Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith’s response to Chris Rock’s joke at the Oscars.

Enzo Angileri, who styled Moore’s hair for the 1997 war film, told Page Six he thought the joke was “cute” and “benevolent”. The stylist said he didn’t know Pinkett Smith suffered from alopecia prior to Sunday evening, but her reaction still did not make sense to him.

“I thought she looked amazing, so regal,” he said. “I thought it was a beauty choice...I have never seen her look more beautiful.”

“It’s nothing to cause such a rolling of the eyes in my opinion, that stimulated her husband to act that way,” he added.

Saman Javed has the full story:

One celebrity who won’t be weighing in on the Will Smith/Chris Rock drama is Daniel Radcliffe.

Appearing on Good Morning Britain on Thursday, the Harry Potter star was asked for his thoughts on the dramatic moment.

However, Radcliffe refused to offer his own opinions, saying: “I saw it, I’m just so already dramatically bored of hearing people’s opinions about it that I just don’t want to be another opinion adding to it.’”