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Actor Will Smith drew plenty of attention for storming the stage during the Oscars award ceremony and slapping host Chris Rock, some of that backlash is spilling over onto a Maryland state lawmaker of the same name.
Following Sunday night’s incident, which came after Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith, Twitter users were slamming Democratic State Sen. Will Smith, despite his profile and tweets making it obvious that he did not star in “King Richard,” Independence Day,” or “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”
OSCARS: WILL SMITH SLAPS CHRIS ROCK OVER JADA PINKETT SMITH JOKE
“Why you hit Chris Rock b—-” read one reply to a Tweet from the lawmaker about activities around his 20th District.
Will Smith, right, hits presenter Chris Rock on stage while presenting the award for best documentary feature at the Oscars on Sunday, March 27, 2022, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
“[U] did chris rock dirty bruh,” said another.
“Why you slapped Chirs Rock?” asked another user in response to a retweet of a post from Montgomery County about the Silver Spring arts and entertainment district, leading another to reply, “Wrong Will smith buddy.”
Fox News reached out to Sen. Smith for comment, but he did not immediately respond.
The violent outburst from the 80s rapper-turned-thespian followed a joke Rock made about Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head, likening her to Demi Moore’s shaved head in the movie G.I. Jane even though Pinkett Smith has publicly addressed having alopecia.
Later in the evening, Smith won his first Academy Award for his starring role in “King Richard,” in which he portrayed Richard Williams, father of tennis greats Venus and Serena Williams.
While giving his acceptance speech, Smith was in tears.
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“I wanna apologize to the academy. I wanna apologize to all my fellow nominees,” he said. “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 light on all of the people.”
“Love will make you do crazy things,” Smith added.
Fox News’ Janelle Ash and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
