Fact check: Did Chris Rock carry a pad on his face while Will Smith smacked him?

DFRAC Editor March 31, 2022

Chris Rock and Will Smith’s heated movement on the stage of Oscar 2022 has evolved many opinions on social media. Although Smith apologized for his action later on the stage and social media. Many sources say that it was all scripted but authorities of Oscar denied the allegation.

Posting clips that went viral posted a snapshot of the scene where Will Smith slapped Chris and focused on Chris’s face. The user wrote that Chris has a pad on the side of the check where Smith slapped him and directed towards the word conspiracy took place at the event.

https://twitter.com/viralclipsss/status/1508518187381366787?s=20&t=BgpX3s6XbrHKFct1Zw8ZuA

The pad on the face picture is going viral on social media and many users have also shared the same claim.

Can anyone explain the pad on Chris Rock's cheek? pic.twitter.com/OjzOCLOpg5

— @tennessee_ed (@Tennessee_Ed) March 29, 2022

So Chris Rock had a pad on his cheek to soften the blow👀 #Rigged pic.twitter.com/JgF5WEmcGC

— FPL Steve (@FPLSteve) March 29, 2022

Fact check

After doing the reverse image search, we found that the viral picture was taken from the page were Reuters. They didn’t mention anything about the pad on the face.

Guardian News also covered the news and shared the video where Smith smacks Chris Rock on the stage. In the video, no such pad can be seen on Chris’s face. Therefore the viral claim is misleading and the pad can be highlighted because of the editing.