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| - Fact Check: 2017 Oscar collage resurfaces as audience reaction to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock
Among the many reactions to the Will Smith-Chris Rock altercation was a collage featuring the shocked faces of several Hollywood stars with the claim: "Audience reaction when Will Smith punched Chris Rock on Stage at the #Oscars." India Today's AFWA team has found the claim to be false.
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India Today Fact Check
This collage has been available online since 2017. It captured how the audience reacted to the mix-up at the 89th Oscars when 'La La Land' was incorrectly declared the Best Picture Award winner before the error was corrected.
In an unexpected and bizarre twist, Hollywood star Will Smith slapped presenter Chris Rock onstage at the Academy Awards 2022. Smith was offended by the actor's comment on his wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
Smith, who went on to win the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role, later apologised for the incident during his acceptance speech. Twitter, of course, was abuzz with all kinds of reactions including comments, memes, jokes, etc.
Among these was a collage featuring the shocked faces of several Hollywood stars, with the claim: "Audience reaction when Will Smith punched Chris Rock on Stage at the #Oscars."
Similar claims have been archived here and here.
The India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) found that the claim was misleading. The same image has been making the rounds on social media since 2017.
AFWA Probe
Many on social media platforms challenged the validity of the photo in replies and comments and claimed the photo was an old one, and that it was from the 2017 Oscars.
What happened at the 2017 Oscars?
During the ceremony that year, 'La La Land' was announced as the winner in the Best Picture category before the announcement was declared void. 'Moonlight' was subsequently declared the real winner. During this mix-up, the reactions of the audience members were captured.
We ran a reverse search of the collage on Google. Most of the top results were from 2017. Google was also able to retrieve the same collage used many times over the years — this proved none of the photos were recent.
We found several news reports on the 2017 Oscars faux pas, both international and Indian that carried the photographs that were part of this collage.
Here's a breakdown of the 15 cells of the viral collage.
A reverse search showed that at least five reactions seen in the collage were captured at the venue back in 2017 by the Los Angeles Times in a single click. The photo tweeted from the daily’s verified Twitter handle on February 27, 2017, showed Matt Damon (1), Michelle Williams (13), Busy Phillips (7), Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson (6), and Salma Hayek (11).
Watch the moment when "La La Land" is mistakenly announced best picture winner https://t.co/h3WScQsfxB pic.twitter.com/5QzqnwfwRv — Los Angeles Times (@latimes) February 27, 2017
We found a photograph tweeted by The New York Times on the same day, from which actor David Oyelowo's (4) picture was taken along with the lady in cell 5.
Faces in the crowd as “Moonlight” was named best picture. In a bewildering end to the show, “La La Land” was first announced as the winner. pic.twitter.com/7bgEd3Vecj — The New York Times (@nytimes) February 27, 2017
'Moonlight' lead Trevante Rhodes' (3) reaction was taken from journalist Courtney Enlow's Twitter.
I could watch Trevante Rhodes find out Moonlight was the real winner on a loop all day. pic.twitter.com/ZnoV9AirRS — Courtney Enlow (@courtenlow) February 27, 2017
Meryl Streep's (9) shocked look was discussed extensively on social media and entertainment news portals alike, our search showed.
Meryl Streep: still acting the most, even in a real life crisis pic.twitter.com/iczsyZwvzZ — Andrew Chow (@andrewrchow) February 27, 2017
This was Meryl Streep's reaction to the Oscar mess-up I am DYING pic.twitter.com/ktLDGvRfmj — gabby (@gabbbylizz) February 27, 2017
The photo of child artist Jaden Piner, who played Kevin in 'Moonlight', on the stage was included in the collage. Originally clicked by Mark Ralston for AFP and Getty Images, the photo was used by multiple news outlets.
Mel Gibson's (14) reaction was captured by Matt Sayles for the Associated Press according to a report on Insider.
The last image in the collage captured actor Ryan Gosling, who was the lead actor in 'La La Land'. The Associated Press tweeted said photo on February 27, 2017.
Ryan Gosling reacts as the true winner of best picture "Moonlight" is announced at the #Oscars. pic.twitter.com/QBRso3yHNJ — AP Images (@AP_Images) February 27, 2017
The remaining two individuals in the grid are Moonlight-star Jharrel Jerome (12) and director Barry Jenkins (8).
Thus, it can be concluded beyond doubt that photos from the 2017 edition of the Academy Awards were shared as the reaction of the audience to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars 2022.
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