'CODA' takes top prize, Will Smith slaps Chris Rock at Oscars
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[March 28, 2022]
By Lisa Richwine
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -"CODA," a
heartwarming movie about a deaf family with a hearing daughter, won a
landmark best picture prize at the Oscars on Sunday, in a ceremony
overshadowed by best-actor winner Will Smith's slapping of presenter
Chris Rock.
"CODA" became the first movie from a streaming service, Apple TV+, to
win the film industry's biggest prize.
In a moment that initially looked like one of the gags that enliven the
Oscars telecast, Smith strode up to the stage and delivered an
open-handed slap to Rock after the presenter made a joke about the
actor's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
But it swiftly became clear the moment was in fact unscripted when
Smith, who had returned to his seat, exchanged words with Rock that
included a twice-repeated obscenity, shocking the audience at the Dolby
Theatre.
Minutes later, Smith learned he had won best actor. In his acceptance
speech, he broke into tears and apologized to his fellow nominees and
the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences -- but not Rock.
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The altercation contrasted with the feel-good moments associated with
"CODA." When the movie won Oscars for best picture, best supporting
actor and best adapted screenplay, nearly everyone in the audience stood
and applauded in sign language.
"CODA" beat Netflix Inc's contender, dark Western "The Power of the
Dog," and other entries from traditional Hollywood studios.
"I really want to thank the Academy for recognizing a movie of love and
family at this difficult time that we need today," producer Patrick
Wachsberger said in front of the film's cast standing on stage.
Hollywood's most prestigious awards ceremony returned to all-out glitz
after pandemic restrictions limited last year's event.
The mood turned somber, however, after Smith slapped Rock following the
comedian's reference to the 1997 movie "G.I. Jane," in which actress
Demi Moore shaved her head. The comment was directed at Smith's wife,
who told Billboard in December she has been battling the autoimmune
disorder alopecia, which can cause hair loss and balding.
"Will Smith just smacked the shit out of me," Rock said as the audience
laughed, at first thinking it was a skit.
Back in his seat, Smith shouted back, "Keep my wife's name out of your
fucking mouth." The comment was silenced during the live U.S. broadcast
on Walt Disney Co's ABC.
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Smith won best actor for playing the determined father of tennis legends
Venus and Serena Williams in "King Richard."
In his vague apology when accepting the award, he said, "Richard
Williams was a fierce defender of his family. Art imitates life. I look
like the crazy father, just like they said about Richard Williams. But
love will make you do crazy things."
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![](../images/032822PIX/news_l23.jpg)
Philippe Rousselet, Fabrice Gianfermi and Patrick Wachsberger win
the Oscar for Best Picture for "CODA" at the 94th Academy Awards in
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 27, 2022.
REUTERS/Brian Snyder
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Mar/28/images/ads/current/newhollandbank_sda_SFARM_2022-.png)
The film academy said on Twitter it
"does not condone violence of any form."
Los Angeles police, without naming names, said in a statement that
investigators were aware of the incident, but that "the individual
involved" had so far declined to file a police report.
In other awards, Jane Campion became just the third woman in the
94-year history of the Oscars to win best director, for her "Power
of the Dog."
Jessica Chastain landed the best actress award for
playing TV evangelist Tammy Faye Bakker in "The Eyes of Tammy Faye."
Troy Kotsur made history as the first deaf man to win an Oscar,
earning best supporting actor for "CODA," which is also an acronym
for "child of deaf adults." Kotsur played Frank Rossi, the father of
a teenager who struggles to help her family's fishing business while
pursuing her own aspirations in music.
"This is dedicated to the deaf community, the 'CODA' community and
the disabled community. This is our moment," Kotsur said in a
heartfelt speech delivered in sign language as he accepted the
supporting actor honor.
Supporting actress went to Ariana DeBose for playing the spirited
Anita, who sings "America" in Steven Spielberg's remake of "West
Side Story."
The Afro-Latina actress asked the audience to imagine her as a young
girl "in the back seat of a white Ford Focus."
"You see a queer, openly queer Latina, who found her strength in
life through art," she said.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Mar/28/images/ads/current/sunag_daily_sda_SFARM_2022.png)
"So, anybody who's ever questioned your identity. Or find yourself
living in the gray spaces, I promise you this: There is indeed a
place for us," she added, referencing the moving song from "West
Side Story."
Science-fiction epic "Dune" won the most awards of the night,
earning six accolades in categories such as cinematography and
editing.
Chastain, Nicole Kidman and other nominees donned a rainbow of
colors for a ceremony with 2,500 attendees, a contrast to last
year's pandemic-era, scaled-down ceremony in a train station.
After going three years without a host, a trio guided Sunday's
ceremony: Amy Schumer, Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes.
"This year, the Oscars hired three women to host because it's
cheaper than hiring one man," Schumer joked.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Howard Goller and Jonathan
Oatis)
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