A body language expert has claimed Will Smith's slap on Chris Rock at the Oscars last night certainly wasn't staged, and neither was Rock's reaction.
As you’re no doubt aware, Smith has sparked off quite a storm last night be taking to the stage at the Oscars last night (27 March) to give Rock an almighty slap after the comedian make a jibe about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
Now, since the whole bizarre incident happened, we’ve been subjected to all kinds of takes from right across the board about whether or not Smith’s actions were justified, or whether comedians should be taking digs at people in that fashion, but others have suggested that the whole thing could have been staged.
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If you want to make up your own mind on that first, you can refresh your memory by watching the video below.
So, a body language expert has taken a look at the situation last night from start to finish and decided whether or not it would have been possible to stage such a fracas.
Of course, Will Smith did then go on to pick up the Best Actor award for his role in King Richard, so he could have just been applying his chops to that.
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However, body language expert Darren Stanton believes that it was all genuine, from the actions of both Rock and Smith.
Speaking on behalf of Slingo, he said: “Once Chris Rock made the joke about Will Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith, you could see a visible emotional shift within the couple.
“The joke targeting Jada’s shaved head following her battle with alopecia, clearly made her uncomfortable and she showed signs in her face of awkwardness and disdain after being embarrassed in front of her peers and the world."
“Will, on the other hand, made a slightly loose laugh and leant back in his chair, which is a sign of tension or uneasiness.
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“As Will got up and onto the stage, you could see Chris Rock wasn’t expecting what was about to happen from his stance.
“With his hands behind his back, he displayed a position of authority, like many police officers, politicians and other empowered people stand in certain situations.
“He was also exposing most of his body and vital organs, a sign that there didn’t seem to be any imminent danger so he must have thought it was going to be a prank.”
The expert continued: “As Will Smith sat down, the first thing we notice is that he does what we call a chin thrust. This is a classic gesture of power and dominance, like animals do when defending their young.
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“We can also see flared nostrils, prolonged eye contact, which are signs of genuine anger. We also see him flash a micro-expression of disgust, in this instance his nostrils tail in as if he has sensed a bad smell.
“There’s been a number of theories online that this confrontation was staged, however, gauging from the degree of anger that Will Smith was displaying, this was 100 percent genuine.
“You cannot fake that level of emotion."
“Shots of Jada on the red carpet show her quite still and rigid, almost in a state of anger or humiliation, proved by her declining to appear in photos with her family.
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“While celebrity reactions from the likes of Nicole Kidman and Meryl Streep in the audience when the incident took place show genuine surprise and astonishment.
“Mouths aghast, eyes wide open and subconsciously hands are raised in a ‘stop’ gesture, which are all real signs of fear and shock.”
So, it seems as if Smith might have genuinely lost the plot for a minute and one thing is for certain... we almost definitely haven’t heard the last of this.
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Topics: US News, Film and TV, Oscars, Academy Awards, Will Smith, Chris Rock, Celebrity