The Batman star Zoë Kravitz is calling out actor Will Smith in all but name, in a new tongue-in-cheek Instagram post following a controversial Oscars night where the King Richard actor slapped comedian Chris Rock on TV.
Sharing a photo of her stunning Oscars-night gown, Kravitz said, “and here is a picture of my dress at the party after the awards show – where we are apparently screaming profanities and assaulting people on stage now.”
The photo caption is no doubt a reference to the slap heard around the world, which occurred when Rock made a joke at the expense of the Ali actor’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
“Jada, I love ya. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it,” Rock said, apparently referencing Pinkett Smith’s buzzcut hairstyle, which resembled Demi Moore’s in the 1997 film G.I. Jane. However, the subtext of the joke is that Pinkett Smith suffers from an autoimmune disease, alopecia, which caused the hair loss that spurred her to sport the bald head in the first place.
This jab at his wife was not taken lightly by Smith, who strode to the stage, slapped Rock, and sat back down. “Get my wife’s name out of your f**king mouth!” Smith twice shouted from his seat, to the shock of those in attendance at the ceremony, and viewers around the world.
While accepting the Best Actor Oscar for his performance in King Richard a few minutes later, Smith acknowledged his violent behavior, apologizing to both the Academy and his fellow nominees. However, he did not mention Rock in the speech.
Late Monday afternoon, the following day, Smith released a formal, written apology on social media, where he finally said he was sorry to Rock directly.
“I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong,” Smith said in part in a Facebook post. In that same statement, Smith called violence in all its forms “poisonous and destructive” and concluded his note with the phrase “I am a work in progress.”