SALT LAKE CITY – It seems everybody was caught up in the now-infamous Academy Awards slap between Will Smith and comedian Chris Rock, including Utah Jazz forward Rudy Gay.
Before presenting the Oscar for best documentary, Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett, Smith’s wife having short hair due to alopecia. After the joke, the “King Richard” star calmly walked on stage caught the comedian with a stunning slap.
Though the Jazz were in Dallas having faced the Mavericks shortly before the slap occurred, Gay offered his brief thoughts on the bizarre moment.
“Shout out to Chris Rock for not rubbing his face after the smack….” Gay tweeted. “I know he wanted too (sic)”
Gay’s tweet about the Smith slap went viral having been retweeted more than 17,000 times by Monday afternoon while earning more than 175,000 likes.
But Gay wasn’t the only Jazz star to weigh in.
Donovan Mitchell said the moment was “OD” in a now-deleted tweet, meaning the Smith slap was excessive.
Jazz Sixth Man of the Year Award winner Jordan Clarkson also shared his thoughts on the slap.
Though he didn’t say it himself, Clarkson seemed to endorse former Weber State guard and Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard who seemed to side with Smith after the slap.
“Lot of [expletives] need this…” Lillard tweeted.
The award show’s producers cut most of the audio and several seconds of video from the live broadcast after the slap, though international broadcasts showed Smith yelling at Rock to no longer make jokes about Pinkett Smith.
The evening grew more awkward after Rock was forced to remain on stage to present the award for best documentary to Quest Love for “Summer of Soul.”
Smith later earned the Oscar for best actor in a leading role for his portrayal of Richard Williams, father of tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams.
