Comedians have criticized Will Smith after he stormed on stage and slapped Chris Rock during the Academy Awards on Sunday.
In an instantly viral moment that was broadcast live around the world, the actor marched up to and hit the comedian for making a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
Rock was introducing the Academy Award for Best Documentary when he started poking fun at some of the celebrity audience members. When he came to Pinkett Smith, he teased her closely shaved head, suggesting she might be appearing in GI Jane 2.
Pinkett Smith - who has spoken openly about her struggles with alopecia - was clearly unamused by the gag, and could be seen rolling her eyes in the audience. Moments later, her husband jumped up on stage and smacked Rock around the face.
Although he was visibly stunned by what had happened, Rock tried to diffuse the tension and laugh off what happened. But Smith cut him off, yelling from his seat: "Keep my wife's name out your f***ing mouth!"
Smith - who won the Oscar for Best Actor mere moments later - has since issued a public apology to Rock for his outburst.
However, as it becomes more apparent that the Academy will not be taking his award back as punishment, comedians are giving their take on the incident.
Kathy Griffin took to Twitter to voice a concern that no doubt many stand-up comedians are feeling. "Let me tell you something, it’s a very bad practice to walk up on stage and physically assault a comedian," she wrote, adding: "Now we all have to worry about who wants to be the next Will Smith in comedy clubs and theatres."
Katherine Ryan also chimed in on the debate, using her Instagram story to open up the conversation with her followers and posting her responses to them per The Independent.
One fan wrote to her: "I don’t condone what he did, violence is never the answer but just because Chris is a 'comedian', it means Will has to sit and watch his wife be insulted? Chris shouldn’t have said it, Will shouldn’t have hit him."
Ryan responded bluntly, saying that the actor should learn to take a joke. "Yes, he has to sit and watch his wife be insulted, yes that’s the point of the celeb monologue. Can’t take a joke, stay home," she said.
Writer and comedian Amy Schumer - who was also presenting at the awards ceremony - also used Instagram to express her takeaway from the incident, saying she is "still triggered and traumatized".
"I love my friend @chrisrock and believe he handled it like a pro," she continued, adding: "I’m still in shock and stunned and sad."
Meanwhile, actor Jim Carrey also weighed in on Rock's side, telling CBS This Morning that if he were Rock: "I would have announced this morning that I was suing Will for $200m because that video is going to be there forever."