Will Smith has always commanded attention, whether through electrifying performances on screen or his chart-topping music career. He has faced challenges with boldness, carved his path with relentless ambition, and earned accolades that few could imagine.

Known for his charisma and unapologetic presence, he has dazzled, provoked, and inspired in equal measure. Yet behind the glitz and acclaim, there have been moments that shock and reverberate across the industry, like the 2022 Oscars, the infamous slap, which still makes headlines even today.

Social media is exploding with claims that a model publicly thanked Will Smith for slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars. But is there any truth to this wild story, or is it pure internet rumor?

A viral video claiming that a model thanked Will Smith for slapping Chris Rock is entirely false. The footage actually comes from the 2025 Grammy Awards, where Smith appeared as a presenter, his first major awards show since the 2022 Oscars incident.

The woman in the pink dress is an unidentified attendee, likely a fan, not a celebrity or model. The audio and subtitles suggesting she praised Smith for the slap were completely fabricated, using real footage to create a false narrative.

During the 94th Academy Awards on March 27, 2022, Will Smith stormed the stage and slapped Chris Rock after a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head. The shocking act stunned the audience, and Smith shouted at Rock to keep his wife's name out of his mouth.

Later that night, he won Best Actor for King Richard and apologized publicly to the Academy, though not to Rock. The incident sparked widespread backlash, a formal resignation from the Academy, and a ten-year ban from future Oscars events. The slap also had a profound effect on Rock, leaving him visibly shaken and grappling with the fallout in the days that followed.

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Jerry Seinfeld revealed how that infamous Oscars slap still haunted Chris Rock, showing the lasting ripple of a single shocking moment on one comedian’s mind.

During a 2024 episode of the Fly on the Wall podcast, Jerry Seinfeld discussed his hopes that Chris Rock would include a parody of the infamous Oscars slap in Seinfeld’s new Netflix film, Unfrosted.

Seinfeld explained that he had shot the comedy shortly after the March 2022 ceremony, but Rock declined to participate because the incident had left him unsettled. Seinfeld described Rock as still shaken from the event, which prevented him from joining the film as Seinfeld had envisioned.

Co-host Dana Carvey shared that he thought Chris Rock's parody of the Oscars slap would have been extremely funny, but he noted that the moment still carried a lingering heaviness. The incident boosted Oscar's ratings but significantly damaged Will Smith’s career and reputation in Hollywood.

Carvey also highlighted that the event had a lasting effect on Rock, with fans continuing to reminisce about the Oscars slap, and its impact and related rumors persisting to this day.

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What do you think about the rumors of a model thanking Will Smith after the Oscars slap? Let us know in the comments below.