Oscars 2023 Viewership Increased By 2M After Smith’s Slap Over Unpleasant Wife’s Joke

The ratings for the Oscars 2023 broadcast has increased in viewership following Will Smith’s infamous slap on Chris Rock last year. This is made known through a press release shared by ABC.

According to the report, the 95th Academy Awards broadcast, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, attracted an average audience of 18.7 million total viewers and scored a 4.0 rating among adults 18 to 49. That’s a 12-percent increase in total viewers from last year, which had 16.7 million.

The Oscars broadcast outdid February’s Grammys on CBS (12.5 million viewers) and September’s Emmys on NBC (5.9 million viewers), per the press release. The Golden Globes, which returned to NBC after a year of not airing on the network, got 6.3 million viewers in January.

CREEKVIBES Magazine recalled that, Chris Rock was appearing at the Oscars to announce the winner for Best Documentary. In the leadup to announcing the nominees, he went through a little comedic patter about some of the nominees, and his attention appeared to snag on Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, sitting in front in a green gown with a shaved head.

Pinkett’s face went stony after the joke, and Smith got to his feet, marched onto the stage, and slapped Rock in the face.

The incident came in the final hour of an otherwise sleepy Oscars telecast on March 27, 2022. Minutes later, Smith won his first ever Oscar.

Will Smith’s action earned me a 10 years banned from the Oscars. The audio of the US broadcast went out at that point, but it continued uncensored in other countries, including Japan and Australia.

“This action we are taking today in response to Will Smith’s behavior is a step toward a larger goal of protecting the safety of our performers and guests, and restoring trust in the Academy,” the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said in an open letter on April 8. “We also hope this can begin a time of healing and restoration for all involved and impacted.”

Smith, who resigned from the Academy on April 1, said in a statement, “I accept and respect the Academy’s decision.”