Will Smith slapping Chris Rock over a joke about Smith's wife in the Oscars' first post-pandemic return to a full live audience is already the stuff of legend in the award show's iconic history.
It was so unprecedented, and surprising, based on the reactions from the crowd, that you may forget some of the other shocking moments that came before it. We'll leave the ranking to the experts, but here are a few of the wildest Oscar moments ever, in reverse chronological order so we can begin with our most recent stunner.
(We'll keep this to the on-stage ones to limit, you know, the "other" issues.)
2022: Will Smith Slaps Chris Rock
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Will Smith confronted actor and comedian Chris Rock on the Oscars stage after the comedian made a joke about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
Rock joked about Pinkett Smith starring in "G.I. Jane 2," apparently because her head is shaved. She did not laugh at the joke.
Smith could then be seen walking to the stage, where he appeared to slap Rock with an open hand. Smith tearfully apologized a few minutes later for hitting Rock -- while, as it happens, accepting the best actor award for his role in "King Richard."
Pinkett Smith last year publicly shared that she has alopecia, an autoimmune disorder that leads to hair loss. "G.I. Jane" was a 1997 movie starring Demi Moore as a woman who joins the U.S. Navy and shaves her head soon after.
2017: The Best Picture Goes to ...
"La La Land!" Just kidding. Some give this moment the crown of all Oscar fails. Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway announced "La La Land" as Best Picture when it was in fact "Moonlight" that won the award. The "La La Land" cast went up on stage to accept the award, as winners do. The mistake involving the night's biggest award was soon corrected, the fail blamed on an inadvertent envelope switcheroo.
2014: Introducing ... Adele Nazeem
Who? This one is probably still quite fresh for Oscar fans. John Travolta botched "Frozen" star Idina Menzel's name in rare and epic fashion as he introduced the Broadway star for a performance of "Let It Go," which went on to win best original song. He got to present that award the following Oscars with "Nazeem" beside him.
2003: Adrien Brody Kisses an Unsuspecting Halle Berry
Yeah, Halle Berry wasn't expecting that one. She presented the Best Actor award to "The Pianist's" Adrien Brody during the 2003 award show. Quick little kisses may be par for the course for any presenter, but Berry was not expecting that kind of passion. She later acknowledged it wasn't planned but said she went along with it.
Brody also weighed in on the attention afterward (and for several years).
2000: Angelina Jolie's Brotherly Love
If the direct kiss on the red carpet wasn't enough, Angelina Jolie followed up her openly "reviewed" smooch with nine words on stage that had the audience a bit confused. After winning Best Supporting Actress for her role in "Girl, Interrupted," Jolie declared, "I'm so in love with my brother right now." So ... that happened.
1997: Cuba Gooding Jr.'s 'I LOVE YOU!'
Cuba Gooding, Jr. channeled his inner Rod Tidwell at the 69th Annual Academy Awards when the Academy "showed him the Oscar." Audiences will never forget the outrageous and unexpected moment when the ecstatic "Jerry Maguire" star repeatedly screamed, "I love you!" to everyone in Hollywood when the orchestra started playing halfway into his Best Supporting Actor speech.
Gooding proceeded to then jump around the stage and wave his Oscar in the air before one last, "everyone involved, I love you!"
1989: Rob Lowe's Duet With Snow White
Lowe's wincing parody rendition of "Proud Mary" performed with Snow White was so widely scorned it is considered one of the most embarrassing Oscar stage moments ever. Julie Andrews, Paul Newman and others called it exactly that word, an "embarrassment," in a co-signed letter they were actually moved to send.
Decades later, Lowe described that moment as one of the worst in his career during an interview with Vanity Fair. Now, at least, he can make fun of himself over it.
1974: Robert Opel Streaks Across Stage
Artist and photographer Robert Opel was a trailblazing LGBTQ rights activist best known for his 1974 streak across the stage at the 46th Academy Awards. The response from actor David Niven -- "Isn't it fascinating to think that probably the only laugh that man will ever get in life is by stripping off and showing his shortcomings?" -- went down as one of the best Oscar adlibs ever. No one has managed to streak nude across the Oscar stage during a live broadcast since.
1969: A Tie for Best Actress
Barbara Streisand and Katharine Hepburn tied for the award, Streisand for her performance in "Funny Girl" and Hepburn for hers in "The Lion in Winter." The actresses each scored 3,030 votes. While it wasn't the only tie in Oscar history (one of six, actually) it was the second time and last time an acting award was divided.
