In the US, Democratic Reps. Ayanna Pressley and Jamaal Bowman tweeted in support of Smith, both of which were later deleted. Pressley, who also suffers from alopecia areata, tweeted: «Call all husbands who stand up for their wives who are living with alopecia.» Some media outlets described the controversy over the shooting, which went around the world, as «the slap in the face heard around the world.» [14] [17] [18] [19] Many Internet memes and parodies have emerged from photo and video. [31] [32] The LAPD reported that Rock did not want to file a police report, and former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani said the idea of «laying charges» was a legal misunderstanding and that the choice ultimately rested with the office of Los Angeles District Attorney Mike Feuer. [128] Defence lawyer Alison Triessl echoed these sentiments, saying, «I would be surprised if the city attorney didn`t seriously consider [the charges] because they were so public. Are they sending the wrong message if they don`t pursue it? […] It sends the message that you can commit a crime and not be punished. That was a very bad message. [129] However, former Los Angeles County District Attorney Alan Jackson believed no charges would be filed until Rock was present. [130] As Rock continued to laugh, Smith walked across the stage without a word, slapped Rock in the face, turned around, and returned to his seat. [12] The attack, which some believed to be a prepared comedy, frightened the audience. Many found that physical assault contradicted and endangered the calm and positive public image Smith had built over his three-decade career. [13] The previously calm skirt also looked surprised,[14] as Smith yelled at her from her seat.

[12] Other legal experts, however, opposed the charges. Alan Jackson said: «To be arrested for a crime, it must be done before the authorities, or conversely, the person against whom the crime was allegedly committed must file a formal complaint with the police.» Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School and a former federal prosecutor, said the case was not serious enough to be prioritized. Defense attorney and former prosecutor Michael Cardoza agrees, saying that while Smith`s actions constitute a crime, «it`s not big enough to clog our courts.» [132] Defence lawyer Lou Shapiro argued that Smith was not receiving special treatment by not being arrested, stating, «With a simple battery-free injury, the LAPD is no deviation from the norm in this case. If it is not a domestic violence case, they will probably not devote resources to it, because if the victim does not file a complaint, who are we protecting at this point? [133] Experts consulted by The Associated Press agreed that Smith was unlikely to be charged at all and would receive only a minor sentence if convicted. [130] The day after the incident, senior legal analyst Aron Solomon of Esquire Digital wrote, «It is clear that what happened at the Oscars was an attack by California`s legal definition. Tarek Fatah wrote in the Toronto Sun: «Of the two men in the discussion, only one broke the law at the Oscars and got away with it because the LAPD held back and let it happen. Only if Will Smith is charged with assault will it be shown that the judiciary is indiscriminate. Jody Armour, a law professor at the University of Southern California, argued that «if Smith is not charged, it could undermine the credibility of the justice system.» [129] [131] He made a video about the gadgets of a radio station that had a number of «date stories», people all said, «I had a great date, but now they don`t call me, I don`t know what happened,» so the station called the other person and they said the first caller had done something strange like being in their bed.

Basically, they were all so weird that Danny suspected it was all fake and everyone involved was actors. After this video, one of the hosts of this channel tweeted that Danny would be «beaten by justice», prompting him to make another video in which he talked about it. He basically explained how all the clips he showed in his first video were fair dealing, and he also showed a series of tweets replying to the radio host that said the same thing. The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to Variety that after an altercation with Will Smith at the 94th Academy Awards, Chris Rock «refused to file a police report.» Smith took the stage at the 2022 Oscars and hit rock after the comedian made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith. Photojournalist Brian Snyder, who worked for Reuters in the group of photographers in the projection booth, photographed Smith beating Rock. [20] This photo quickly went viral, made headlines and was adapted into Internet memes. [16] He was not aware of the cultural impact of the photo until after the ceremony, as his photos were automatically sent to his editors. He has been portrayed by several media outlets,[21][22][23] including the photography company PetaPixel.[20] [24] Another described him as «Will Smith`s only winner against Chris Rock`s `Smackdown,`» speculating: «Snyder will surely now win the most coveted and prestigious photojournalism award, the World Press Photo of the Year, thanks to his photo capturing the moment Smith hit Rock, as his photo was used by every publication under the sun and even became a meme. [25] However, on 6 April, AMPAS postponed the disciplinary meeting supervised by the Governing Council to 9 a.m. on 8 April.