Nicki Minaj & 50 Cent Tweet Support For Will Smith After Slapping Chris Rock At Oscars

Hollywood is still reeling after the Oscars moment no one was expecting, and both celebrities, and pretty much anyone who can write online, are now sharing their opinions on which side was in the right.

If you somehow haven’t heard, Will Smith responded explosively to an insensitive joke by Best Documentary Feature presenter Chris Rock about Jada Pinkett-Smith’s shaved head, a result of the medical condition alopecia. Smith slapped the comedian in the face and yelled “Keep my wife’s name out your f––king mouth,” at him twice, shocking both Rock and the audience into silence.

Smith later won the Best Actor award for the biopic King Richard, and in his speech, he apologized to Rock and the Academy. He also said notably at the end of his emotional and sometimes-rambling speech, “art imitates life. I look like the crazy father. Love will make you do crazy things.”

Some have praised Smith for not taking Rock’s joke lying down after Pinkett-Smith clearly wasn’t entertained by it. The rapper Nicki Minaj decried Rock’s joke and was one who spoke out in support of Smith in several tweets on Monday. Minaj said she appreciated Smith’s response because “while y’all seeing the joke he’s seeing her pain.”

While a few other celebrities came to Smith’s defense, including 50 Cent, Tiffany Haddish and his own son Jaden Smith, who tweeted “And That’s How We Do It,” later that evening, most in Hollywood are tripping over themselves to condemn Smith’s actions the most. Actress Zoë Kravitz referred to the incident lightly in an Instagram caption which read, “here’s a picture of my dress at the award show where we are apparently assaulting people on stage now.”

In a now-deleted tweet, director Judd Apatow said Smith “could have killed” the comedian and dramatically added it was, “pure out of control rage and violence.”

Plenty of people in the stand-up comedy world also reacted strongly to seeing a comedian get slapped for a bad joke. Kathy Griffin warned people that “we all have to worry about who wants to be the next Will Smith in comedy clubs and theaters.” Other comedians, who are all rich and famous enough to afford tight security should they need it, including Rob Schneider, Whitney Cummings and Patton Oswalt all wrote similar tweets echoing concern for the safety of stand-ups to tell their prime penis jokes now.

Smith has since released a public apology, saying in part, “My behavior at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable … I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.” The Academy condemned Smith’s actions and said they were conducting an independent investigation into the incident that will take several weeks to complete, and could potentially result in them revoking the actor’s award. On Friday, Smith resigned from the Acadamy.