Rock was getting ready to present the award for Best Documentary Feature as he joked about Jada Pinkett-Smith’s appearance.
“Jada, I love you. GI Jane 2, can’t wait to see you,” Rock quipped, referencing Pinkett-Smith’s bald head.
Pinkett-Smith has spoken out about her struggles with hair-loss disease alopecia in the past – which prompted her to announce that she had shaved her head completely last year.
While Pinkett-Smith could be seen rolling her eyes at the comment, Smith stormed the stage.
As Rock commented, “Uh oh…”, Smith then slapped him on the arm.
“Wow, Will Smith just smacked the sh*t out of me,” a shaken Rock told the audience, before pressing on as Smith took his seat.
Smith then heckled and swore at Rock from the stands, shouting, “keep my wife’s name out your f*cking mouth”, to which Rock replied: “Dude, it was a GI Jane joke.”
“Keep my wife’s name out your f***ing mouth,” Smith yelled back.
“I’m going to,” a flustered Rock replied, before commenting, “That was the greatest night in the history of television”, and pressing on with presenting the award.
Social media had plenty to say about the incident.
“What just happened? Was that real?” One commented, with another saying, “He needs to be escorted out of the Oscars”.
Many viewers also reported that the sound was cut from the television footage shortly after the outburst, to remove the sound of Smith’s swearing.