The Oscars slap

29 MAR 2022

Film

This video features in a responsive display in the museum that presents the moments, stories and memes capturing the zeitgeist by going viral on the internet.

There are no winners in this Academy Award moment. Even those who took home Oscars had their achievement overshadowed by Will Smith’s startling assault on Chris Rock. When the internet should’ve been buzzing about Troy Kotsur winning the second Oscar awarded to a Deaf performer, Ariana DeBose being the first openly queer woman of colour to take one home, or Jane Campion being only the third woman to win for Best Director, it was instead saturated by hot takes, memes and outrage – either for or against Rock’s joke or Smith’s reaction – in an ongoing feedback loop between broadcaster, viewer and meme-maker, which played out in real time during the ceremony.

Know Your Meme break down how the moment went viral on the internet. Video via Know Your Meme's YouTune channel.

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Collection

Not in ACMI's collection

Credits

creator

Casey Briggs

Production dates
29 MAR 2022

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

Curatorial section

The Story of the Moving Image → Moving Minds → MM-09. Catch of the Day

Object Types

Moving image file/Digital

Materials

digital screen recording @CaseyBriggs' TikTok

Collected

1378 times

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/120096--that-just-happened-the-slap/ |title=The Oscars slap |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=23 July 2026 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}