The Academy Awards took place on Sunday night (March 27) in Los Angeles, California. Hosted by Amy Schumer, Regina Hall, and Wanda Sykes.
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Countless awards were given out, but there was one moment that stole the show: when Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock across the face while he was on stage to present the Oscar for Best Documentary.
Here's the moment Chris Rock made a "G.I. Jane 2" joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, prompting Will Smith to punch him and yell, "Leave my wife’s name out of your f–king mouth." #Oscars pic.twitter.com/kHTZXI6kuL
— Variety (@Variety) March 28, 2022
There were other moments that touched viewers, and some that even made history.
CODA star Troy Kotsur became the second deaf actor, the first male, to win an Oscar when he took home the trophy for Best Supporting Actor. His on-screen wife, Marlee Matlin, was the first deaf actor to win an Oscar in 1987 for Children of a Lesser God.
Troy Kotsur became the first deaf man in academy history to win an Oscar for acting. Voters honored his heartstring-tugging supporting performance in “CODA” as a fisherman struggling to relate to his hearing daughter. https://t.co/TaH41VWvJH pic.twitter.com/fwWcIhTRJ3
— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 28, 2022
West Side Story‘s Ariana DeBose won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, 60 years after Rita Moreno won it in the same role of Anita. She became the very first openly queer woman of color to win an Oscar, and the first Latina to win since Moreno’s win in 1962.
rita moreno and ariana debose. two academy award winners for anita in west side story. both their first nominations and wins. 60 years a part #Oscars pic.twitter.com/7If7BltCag
— Nora Dominick (@noradominick) March 28, 2022
Because of these moments, and likely due to the “slap heard ’round the world,” the Oscars saw a major spike in viewership from last year’s all-time low, which was 10.5 million viewers.
According to Yahoo, 2022’s Academy Awards had an increase of 58% from last year’s show with 16.6 million viewers tuning in.
Yahoo also reports that the show “averaged a 3.8 rating in the key adults 18-49 demographic, up 73% from the 2021 telecast.”
The growth in viewers from last year is quite impressive! But, it still is the the second-worst viewership and ratings performance in the history of the Oscars.