Will Smith ended his time at the 94th Academy Awards with a smile and a dance. Hours after the Mar. 27 event – where Will, 53, slapped Chris Rock before winning the Oscar for Best Actor – the King Richard star attended Vanity Fair’s post-Oscar bash alongside wife Jada Pinkett-Smith. During the after-party, the DJ played Will’s songs “Gittin’ Jiggy Wit It” and “Miami.” In the video recorded by Vanity Fair editor Ramin Setoodeh, Will channels his “Bigg Willy Style” persona while holding his Oscar, rapping, and dancing along to his own music.
Will Smith is at the #VanityFairOscarParty dancing with his Oscar to ‘Gettin Jiggy With It.’ pic.twitter.com/PvKrRICQEN
— Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) March 28, 2022
“Asked Will Smith how he’s doing and he said, ‘It’s all love,’’ tweeted Vanity Fair editor Marc Malkin. This mirrored what Will said during his acceptance speech. “I’m being called on in my life to love people and to protect people and to be a river to my people,” Will said as he began to tear up. “I know to do what we do, you got to be able to take abuse. You got to be able to have people talk crazy about you. In this business you got to be able to have people disrespecting you. And you got to smile and you got to pretend like that’s okay.”
“I want to apologize to the Academy,” Will added. “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 on all of the people. … Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father, just like they said about Richard Williams.”
Will’s “crazy father” moment came after Rock, 57, made an off-handed joke about Jada, 50. “Jada, I love you. GI Jane 2, can’t wait to see you,” Chris quipped about Jada’s bald head. Will’s wife has been open about her battles with alopecia, and the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star didn’t appreciate the remark. Will walked up on stage, slapped Chris, and returned to his seat. From there, Will shouted at Chris, telling him to keep his wife’s name “out of your f-ckin’ mouth.”
Following the ceremony, the Los Angeles Police Department issued a statement saying that Chris “has declined to file a police report.” After Will’s attack on Chris Rock, actors Bradley Cooper and Denzel Washington (and Will’s publicist, Meredith O. Sullivan) spoke to Smith during the commercial break.
Will Smith’s family – sons , Trey, 29, and Jaden, 23, and daughter Willow, 21 – joined him and Jada at the Vanity Fair after-party. The five posed on the red carpet, with Will smiling brightly while clutching his Oscar.