Oscars slap-gate: Will Smith's acceptance speech spiked audience by 600,000 viewers
Zee News
Oscars 2022: The most-watched portion of the entire show was the 15 minutes between 9:15 p.m. and 9:29 p.m., which saw 'CODA' star Troy Kotsur win best-supporting actor.
Los Angeles: Viewership for the Oscars on ABC grew by 511,000 viewers during the 15-minute time span that featured Will Smith slapping Chris Rock, according to Live + Same Day Nielsen data.
According to 'Variety', while the Oscars' audience dipped from there, it spiked again during Smith's best actor win and acceptance speech shortly after 11 p.m. ET, this time by 614,000 viewers.
The most-watched portion of the entire show was the 15 minutes between 9:15 p.m. and 9:29 p.m., which saw 'CODA' star Troy Kotsur win best-supporting actor.
During the 94th Academy Awards telecast, Smith went on stage at the Dolby Theater and smacked Rock in the face after he made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head, referencing 'G.I. Jane'.
He then screamed at Rock to "leave my wife's name out of your f*****g mouth," which was censored by broadcaster ABC in the US.
