Social Media was abuzz last night when an offended Will Smith appeared to climb on the Oscars stage and full SLAP stand up comic Chris Rock after Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife (Jada Pinkett Smith’s) hair.

When Smith received his award for best actor in King Richard, he got to the stage and gave a semi-apology for the incident… but now as the dust has settled, many believe that the “assault” was actually just a ploy for ratings. Via DM:

But having watched slowed down footage of the heated moment, some social media users are insisting the slap was fake.

One user thought the fact Chris appeared to recoil before the hit suggested it could be fake, writing: ‘Chris Rock grimacing for what he knows is coming. His hand barely grazed him.

‘Actors, especially action actors like Will Smith, know how to pull a punch (or slap) This was staged.’

Another said: ‘Will Smith and Chris Rock pulled off the work of the decade.. imagine believing this was real #FakeSlap’.

A fourth penned: ‘It was fake though. Will Smith would not have slapped Chris Rock like that for real on live TV. Too much class. If you watch closely in slow motion, Chris braced for the slap before it even came. The probably got paid good for that though.’ 

Another user said: ‘The whole Will Smith thing looked a bit staged to me • Chris Rock [leaning] in waiting for the slap • Will Smiths smirk on his way back to his seat after the “slap” • The slap itself didn’t even look like it really landed’.

Check out the video below — what do you think?