Fake Will Smith, Chris Rock Slap Theory Goes Viral

It has been more than a year since Will Smith infamously slapped comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars.

The 94th Academy Awards will forever go down in history as one of the oddest and for coining the trademark phrase, "Keep my wife's name out of your f******* mouth," as shouted by Smith, who won the Best Actor award for his portrayal of Venus and Serena Williams' father in King Richard.

Since the slap, a lot has come to light about Smith and wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, including her admission that they had in fact been separated for several years.

Now, a video that appears to show footage of an old black-and-white TV or film comedy skit has surfaced that some say looks very similar to the notorious Oscars' incident.

For those that need a recap, Smith slapped Rock after the comedian made a "G.I. Jane joke" about his wife and her short hair. Pinkett Smith had revealed she has alopecia; the joke itself was called distasteful by some and clearly angered her husband.

Smith released a statement the following day to apologize but was banned from attending all Academy-related events for a decade by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The meme video online shows a similar style of interaction between two males, one on stage and one in the audience, and has clocked up more than 280,000 views, with some claiming Smith and Rock re-enacted the scenario.

Shared on X, formerly Twitter, by the account @TheVeganPops, the 50-second clip shows a comedian on stage directing humor and personal quips at a couple in the audience. The male in the couple then looked to his partner before standing and walking onto the stage. Set to canned laughter, the stage intruder slapped the comedian and the pair recited a similar dialogue to the one that took place between Smith and Rock.

It was captioned: "Remember the Will Smith and Chris Rock interaction? The world is a stage.... Pay attention!!!"

The video appeared to be lifted from a parody account with the social media handle @The_Real_Don_Moe showing across it. That account resides on Instagram with the same handle.

Newsweek found the full video online with the 50-second clips taken from a 15-minute skit, which was created by entrepreneur, film producer, and YouTuber Dharminder "Dhar" Mann. The re-enactment video on YouTube was posted on May 19, 2022; the Oscars took place on March 27, 2022.

It didn't take long for multiple social media users to call out the video as fake but the clip racked up hundreds of likes, saves and reposts.

A few did fall for it, with one commenting: "I showed people this, and they were blown away it's crazy to see how it's the exact same thing we all saw that day."

Another said: "I KNEW that slap was fake as hell it just looked so unnatural and weak to meee."

However, the majority were quick to spot that the video was fake.

"It took two seconds to find out this little clip was filmed AFTER the Will Smith/Chris Rock incident," one social media user said.

A second added: "This has been debunked. Stop with the misinformation."

A third jabbed: "Fake, fake, fakety-fake-fake-fake."

Newsweek has contacted Dhar Mann via email for comment.