Sunday, May 24, 2026

Will Smith is the Only Oscar Winner to Skip the Press Rooms After the Academy Awards

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Will Smith was the only Oscar winner not to appear before the press after the Academy Awards.

Smith punched out Chris Rock on live TV, then won the Oscar and gave an acceptance speech. He apologized to the Academy but not Rock for leaping out of the audience, jumping on stage, and punching Rock. The comedian had made an innocent joke about Smith’s wife’s haircut looking like “GI Jane.”

People at the Oscars are still in shock. But if Smith isn’t addressed in some way, many are wondering if this isn’t normalizing violence. It’s a quandary. But I think Smith will have this follow him around for a long, long time.

 

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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