Inside Will Smith conspiracy theories as viewers claim Chris Rock was wearing a FACE PAD when he was slapped at Oscars

VIEWERS across the world were left in shock as they watched Will Smith slap Chris Rock onstage at the 2022 Academy Awards.

The infamous slap has inspired countless think pieces and wild conspiracy theories, including claims that Chris was wearing a face pad when it happened.

GettyThe altercation between Will Smith and Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards has inspired countless various conspiracy theories[/caption]

TwitterOne of the most unhinged theories claims that Chris Rock was actually wearing a pad on his face to soften the blow when Smith hit him across the face on Sunday.[/caption]

TwitterAnother theory suggests that the fight was staged in order to promote new alopecia medication[/caption]

While Will has since apologized for hitting Chris, many still believe the altercation was staged for a variety of reasons.

One of the most unhinged theories that have emerged from the scandal claims that Chris was actually wearing a pad on his face to soften the blow when Will hit him across the face on Sunday.

“In 8k quality images you can see a pad on chris rocks cheek, yeah conspiracy theorists gonna go crazy with this one,” reads one viral tweet posted on Monday.

The tweet includes a photo of a close-up of the comedian’s face that appears to show padding on his cheek.

However, official images from the moment from accredited sites such as Getty do not show anything of the sort on Chris’ face.

The source of the photo included in the viral tweet is unclear, but Gizmodo offers two possible explanations: it could have been photo-shopped or put through an “artificial intelligence” app.

These kind of apps, like Remini, let people scale up an image to get a better look, and artificial intelligence tries to guess what is missing in an image.

But the face pad conspiracy is far from the only one floating around the internet since Sunday.

Another theory suggests that the fight was staged in order to promote new alopecia medication.

Twitter user Alistair Williams wrote: “Pfizer sponsored the oscars last night and they have an alopecia drug coming out.

“Do you see the game yet?”

While Pfizer did serve as one of the event’s sponsors, and its subsidiary Arena is developing an alopecia treatment, there is no evidence to support the tweet’s wild claim.

Arena’s drug, etrasimod, is meant as an oral supplement being developed to treat immuno-inflammatory diseases, not just alopecia.

Moreover, Pfizer isn’t expected to file it with the FDA anytime soon, as it’s only just passed its Phase 3 trial, as reported by Highsnobiety.

But the wild claims don’t stop there, and they don’t all assume the slap was staged.

Some who believe the slap was real think it was the result of the Macbeth curse.

One Twitter user said: “To be fair, Chris Rock put a hex on himself by saying ‘Macbeth’ in a theater.” 

Another added: “Keep… Macbeth’s name… out of your FU****G mouth.”

According to the ancient superstition, saying the Shakespeare character’s name inside a theatre triggers a curse, so one must never say it unless performing or rehearsing the play.

But, just moments before he was slapped, Chris had given a shout out to Denzel Washington, who played Macbeth in the film adaptation.

“Macbeth! Loved it!” Chris said from the stage before cracking the joke about Jada Pinkett Smith that caused Smith to get up from his seat.

SHOCKING SLAP

Will’s reaction was in response to Chris’ poorly-timed joke about his wife’s hair prior to presenting the award for Best Documentary.

The ill-received joke referenced Jada’s hair loss, with Chris saying: “Jada, I love you, G. I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it.”

Jada, 50, is said to have been struggling with hair loss for years, which is why she decided to shave it off.

Will stormed the stage seconds after the comment, slapping the presenter.

He walked back to his seat as a stunned Chris announced: “Will Smith just smacked the s**t out of me.”

Will yelled from the audience: “Leave my wife’s name out of your f**king mouth.”

Getty Images – GettyJust moments before he was slapped, Chris (not pictured) had given a shout out to Denzel Washington, who played Macbeth in the film adaptation[/caption]

The Mega AgencyWill’s reaction was in response to Chris’ poorly-timed joke about his wife’s hair[/caption]