Will Smith, Chris Rock Incident Overshadows Oscars; Reaction to the Slap Heard Around the World; Oscars Snubs and Surprises; Best Dressed Women and Men; Oscars Telecast Review

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( March 28, 2022 What's news: Well, that was a pretty eventful evening! Will Packer delivered an Academy Awards show that no one will ever forget as the shocking bust up between Will Smith and Chris Rock dominates newspaper front pages around the world. CODA won best film and Apple became the first streamer to win the top prize at the Oscars. Jane Campion became only the third woman to win best director. Dune scored the most awards overall with six wins — [Abid Rahman]( The Slap Heard Around the World ►"Love will make you do crazy things." There's no avoiding it, the biggest story of the 94th Academy Awards, and perhaps the biggest story of any Oscars in living memory (and it had to be something truly extraordinary to top the Moonlight debacle), was the shocking moment Will Smith stormed onstage and slapped presenter Chris Rock for a joke the comic made about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Though the full incident was not shown on the U.S. telecast, foreign broadcasts captured the (incredibly loud) moment Smith slapped Rock, and then engaged in an expletive riddled back and forth with the comedian after the actor had retaken his seat. During the next commercial break, a tearful Smith was pulled aside and comforted by Denzel Washington and Tyler Perry. And later Smith, accepting his best actor Oscar for his performance in King Richard, addressed the incident, apologizing to The Academy but pointedly not to Rock. [The shocking moment.]( —"The Academy does not condone violence of any form." The reaction to the Smith-Rock incident from the key players and powerbrokers on Oscar night has been a mixture of shock, sadness, anger and pure befuddlement. The Academy released a short statement that didn't directly address the incident. The LAPD confirmed that Rock opted not to file a police report. Roger Ross Williams, a Black member of the Academy’s board of governors, was moved to tears and told THR that the incident "reinforces stereotypes about Black people." Will Packer, who produced this year’s ceremony, also commented on the furor by tweeting after the show, “Welp…I said it wouldn’t be boring #Oscars.” [The reaction.]( —"Here it is, a groove slightly transformed." Newly-minted Oscar winner Will Smith took a victory lap at the Vanity Fair Oscar party after Sunday’s awards ceremony, dancing to his own hits as wife Jada cheered him on, almost as if nothing had happened. After rapping to his 1991 hit "Summertime" on the dance floor, Smith told THR's [Nekesa Mumbi Moody]( that it had "been a beautiful night." [The video.]( —"It was probably going to end up being another mediocre-to-bad show regardless, but then it became awful." THR's chief TV critic [Dan Fienberg]( surveys the wreckage that was the 94th Academy Awards, writing that Smith's onstage assault of Rock was only the nadir of an Oscars telecast characterized by unsuccessful innovations and upstaged emotional moments. [The review.]( —"Nobody comes away from it looking good." THR's awards analyst [Scott Feinberg]( who was in the Dolby Theater when things got ugly, offers his take on the 94th Academy Awards. Scott laments how the Smith-Rock incident took the shine and attention away from other important moments, not least a streaming company winning best film, a moment he says showed the "Rubicon has been crossed." [The analysis.]( Oscars 2022 ►Lest we forget. Hollywood, the press and social media may only be talking about that moment this morning, but there was an actual Academy Awards ceremony that took place on Sunday night, and there were big wins for CODA, Dune, Jane Campion, Jessica Chastain and more. [The full winners list.]( —"A historic — and bizarre — Oscars." THR's [Rebecca Keegan]( has the full recap of what went down at the Oscars on Sunday. There were standout moments aplenty, including Jessica Chastain's powerful statement against bigotry, Troy Kotsur acceptance speech in ASL and more. [The recap.]( —Snubs and shutouts. Despite going into Sunday's Oscars with several nominations, Belfast and West Side Story ended up with only one award each. Similarly, The Power of the Dog failed to capitalize on its frontrunner status in a number of categories, not least cinematographer where Ari Wegner lost out to fellow Aussie lenser Greig Fraser. Other high-profile nominees who went home empty-handed include Flee and song nominees Beyoncé and Diane Warren, the latter who has yet to win an Oscar despite 13 nominations. [The snubs.]( —Quietly huge night. With all the drama on the stage, and the Academy's ultimately pointless decision to not broadcast some craft categories live, people may have missed that Denis Villeneuve's Dune: Part One walked away with six wins, the most of any film on the night. [The winners by film.]( —$25 million well spent. It was a history making night for streamers, as Apple TV+ became the first platform to win a best picture Oscar following CODA's win. The victory must have been all the sweeter for Apple as the tech giant beat rivals Netflix and Amazon to the Academy Awards summit despite entering the race for prizes only recently. [The story.]( —"This is our moment." THR's senior editor, diversity and inclusion [Rebecca Sun]( surveyed the winners from Sunday's Oscars and finds that the Academy made gradual progress with racial and ethnic inclusion, and CODA's best picture win was a welcome reminder that disability is also diversity. [The story.]( —Memorable. THR's [Abbey White]( with a great story on how CODA helped elevate the Deaf community on Oscar night. Abbey writes that the film, its cast and its creative team helped spotlight American Sign Language and ASL interpretation in a series of historic moments for the Deaf community in Hollywood and beyond. [The story.]( Red and Old-Hollywood Glamour Rule the Night ►Stylish drama. THR's [Laurie Brookins]( writes that red and pink were the colors that dominated on the carpet and the night’s fashion offered a little bit of everything, from the structure and drama of old-Hollywood glamour to the glimmer of metallic dresses and looks that veered from the traditional, with two of the night’s nominees saying “no, thanks” to the idea of a gown altogether. [The best looks.]( —Don't forget the guys. Laurie runs the rule over the best dressed men from Sunday night, including a daring and shirtless Timothée Chalamet, the forever fashion forward Kodi Smit-McPhee, and the classically elegant Andrew Garfield. [The best looks.]( —#StandWithUkraine. After much anticipation over whether the Oscars would host a video statement from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the show instead opted to hold a moment of silence Sunday night to show support for the people of Ukraine. [The story.]( —Grand slam. Believe it or not, the 2022 Oscars got off to an incredible start when Beyoncé opened the show with a satellite performance from the tennis courts of Compton. She was joined by a full entourage of dancers in pale green gowns to match her own feathery ensemble and the green surfaces of the tennis courts, like the ones where the Williams sisters played growing up. [The performance.]( —Well, that backfired. The production team's decision to reveal the winners of the unofficial Twitter Fan-Favorite Awards during Sunday's Oscars blew up in their face spectacularly after Zack Snyder fanboys made sure the director won two categories including Justice League scooping fan-favorite scene and Army of the Dead winning fan favorite award over the likes of Spider-Man: No Way Home. [The story.]( —🤦 ♀️🤦 ♀️🤦 ♀️ In a night of quite dismal lows, the questionable music choices made by the Oscars production would have ranked higher in the controversy stakes. ICYMI, the producers were slammed on social media for using Toto’s “Africa” to accompany British actor Daniel Kaluuya and singer H.E.R. when they walked to the stage. And then later caused more consternation when they played Madonna’s 1987 Latin-inspired “La Isla Bonita” to introduce Latina actress Stephanie Beatriz. [The story.]( More from the 2022 Oscars... —Jane Campion [becomes third woman to win best director]( —Questlove says Summer of Soul [best documentary win is “such a stunning moment”]( —Stars address [“divided times,” “bigoted” legislation during acceptance speeches]( —Encanto cast delivers first live performance of “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” with [new Megan Thee Stallion verse]( —Kenneth Branagh honors [those facing “violence and loss” while accepting first-ever Oscar]( —CODA’s’ Sian Heder t[hanks Deaf collaborators for being “teachers”]( —Winners respond backstage [to “short sighted” telecast format change]( —Costume design winner [Jenny Beavan says she “nearly said no” to designing Cruella]( —Drive My Car director [Ryusuke Hamaguchi thanks his actors for best international film win]( —Encanto team [celebrates “beautiful, diverse characters” with best animated feature win]( —Best supporting actress winner Ariana DeBose: [“Even in this weary world we live in, dreams do come true”]( —Read transcript of [Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes’ opening monologue]( Box Office: 'Lost City' Opens to Big $31M ►"A sensational opening!" The Nee Brothers' The Lost City opened to a better-than-expected $31 million domestically from 4,252 theaters in a significant win for the box office recovery, Paramount and stars Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum. THR's [Pamela McClintock]( writes that until now, males under the age of 35 have fueled the theatrical rebound, while titles depending upon older adults — particularly older females — have lagged. Lost City, an action-packed romance adventure that’s a throwback to the era of Romancing the Stone, bucked that trend in a major way. Roughly 60 percent of Friday ticket buyers were female, while a whopping 47 percent were over 35. [The box office report.]( —We need hot stuff. Almost 25 years after it became a global box office smash, Brit comedy The Full Monty — about a group of unemployed steel workers turned amateur strippers — is returning as a TV series. Developed by Searchlight and FX and now shooting in the U.K., the 8-episode limited series will premiere on Disney+ globally, Star+ in Latin America and Hulu in the U.S. The series will see the original cast and creative team return. [The story.]( —Wunderbar! German actor Malick Bauer will star as the eponymous Sam — A Saxon in the new German-language original series from Disney+. The drama series, from the creators of Deutschland 89, is based on the real-life story of Samuel Meffire, East Germany’s first Black policeman. [The story.]( —"A solid B movie topped by an A-plus performance." THR film critic [Sheri Linden]( reviews Tarik Saleh's The Contractor. Chris Pine stars as a former Green Beret signs on for lucrative black-ops work that quickly turns disastrous in an action thriller that also stars Ben Foster, Gillian Jacobs and Eddie Marsan. [The review.]( In other news... —Chris Wallace says Fox News working environment [had become “unsustainable” after 2020 election]( —Stevie Nicks pens [tribute to her friend Taylor Hawkins]( —Call My Agent! showrunner [Fanny Herrero set as jury president for Canneseries]( —India’s PVR and Inox to [merge to create cinema giant]( —U.K. police [not investigating sexual harassment claims against Noel Clarke]( What else we're reading... —Mary McNamara: Women won big at the 2022 Oscars, but Will Smith stole their thunder [[LAT]( —How Will Smith celebrated his Oscar win at Vanity Fair’s party [[VF]( —You can’t save the Oscars by making them sponcon [[Vox]( —Kevin Fallon on why Will Smith’s violent outburst made the Oscars impossible to love [[Daily Beast]]( —What I saw inside the room when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock [[Vulture]( Today... ...in 1963, Alfred Hitchcock premiered his Psycho feature follow-up, The Birds, in New York. The horror, starring Tippi Hedren and Rod Taylor, would go on to achieve classic status and was selected for preservation in its National Film Registry. [The original review.]( Today's birthdays: Lady Gaga (36), Julia Stiles (41), [Vince Vaughn]( (52), Dianne Wiest (74), Nick Frost (50), Reba McEntire (67), Richard Kelly (47), Mike Newell (80), Radu Jude (45), Jonathan Van Ness (35), Megan Suri (23), David Vadim (50), Orfeh (51), Natalie Lander (39), Flula Borg (40), Laura Harrier (32), Orla Brady (61), Annie Wersching (45) Country singer Jeff Carson, who topped the charts with 1995 single “Not on Your Love,” has died. He was 58. [The obituary.]( This email was sent to {EMAIL} by Penske Media Corporation. Please add email@email.hollywoodreporter.com to your address book to ensure delivery to your inbox. Visit the [Preferences Center]( to update your profile and customize what email alerts and newsletters you receive. 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