LIGHTS, ACTION... DRAMA!

THE ACADEMY AWARDS ALWAYS PROMISES TO BE A NIGHT LIKE NO OTHER AND THIS YEAR, IT CERTAINLY DELIVERED

- Kylie Walters

After two years of the COVID-19 pandemic heavily impacting ceremonies, the 94th Academy Awards promised to be back bigger and better than ever in 2022. And on March 27, Hollywood's night of nights certainly delivered.

Ahead of the big event, Will Smith, 53, took to Instagram to announce that he and wife Jada Pinkett Smith, 50, “got all dressed up to choose chaos”. In true prophecy-like style, that is exactly what the ceremony descended into.

As Chris Rock, 57, took to the stage to present the gong for Best Documentary, he made a poor taste joke about Pinkett Smith's shaved head. “Jada, I love ya. GI Jane 2, can't wait to see ya," he quipped, referencing Demi Moore's 1997 film where she famously shaved her locks to play US Navy Lieutenant Jordan O'Neil.

Smith was seen to laugh at first then made his way onto the stage to deliver a powerful open-handed slap across the comedian's face. The joke hit a sore spot for Smith as his wife has been open about her struggle with alopecia.

“It was terrifying when it first started,” Pinkett Smith said on Red Table Talk in 2018. "I was in the shower one day and had just handfuls of hair in my hands and I was just like, 'Oh, my God, am I going bald?”