Caitríona Balfe has revealed the hilarious reasons she missed Will Smith infamously slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars.
Chris had been presenting the award for Best Documentary when he made a joke about the actor’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith – who suffers from alopecia.
Referring to Jada’s buzzcut, the comedian said, “Jada, can’t wait for GI Jane 2,” prompting the actress to roll her eyes.
After Chris made the joke, Will stormed onto the stage, slapped Chris across the face and warned him: “Keep my wife’s name out your f**king mouth!”
The situation caused uproar at the time, and he was subsequently banned from attending the Oscars and all Academy events for 10 years after the incident.
During her appearance on Friday night’s The Late Late Show, Caitríona revealed that although she had been in attendance on that now-infamous night, she didn’t witness the incident.
The actress had been sitting a mere six rows away from the stage; however, she decided to head to the bar with her Belfast co-stars and crew – including Jamie Dornan, right before the incident occurred.
Caitríona admitted that she and the Belfast team had been celebrating Kenneth Branagh’s win on the night.
They had witnessed the incident occur on the small screen in the bar.
However, the actress revealed none of them had registered what was happening on stage, and believed it had been a skit.
The Monaghan native said the atmosphere had completely changed in theatre when they re-emerged from their celebrations.
