If Will Smith was feeling any remorse about slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars on Sunday night, he didn’t show it. The 53-year-old best actor winner, who took home the trophy for his performance in “King Richard,” arrived at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party just after midnight with a large entourage and immediately hit the dance floor.
As the DJ played a medley of Smith’s biggest ’90s hits, the actor sang along to “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” and “Miami” as he shimmied in the middle of a mosh pit of his fans at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, swinging his gold statue in the air.
“It’s all about love,” Smith told Variety, when asked how he was doing.
Just hours prior, Smith overshadowed the 94th Academy Awards when he stormed the stage and slapped presenter Chris Rock for making a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith. He subsequently apologized to the Academy in his Oscars acceptance speech, one of the more bizarre moments in the telecast’s long history.
At the Vanity Fair Oscar party — hosted by the glossy magazine’s editor in chief Radhika Jones — Smith carried on as if the night had been a purely celebratory affair. He topped off his win by posing for selfies, shaking hands and fist bumping strangers. And he spoke to the wall-to-wall famous faces in the crowd. Trevor Noah gave Smith a big hug. Ricky Martin thumped his chest before extending his congratulations. Cynthia Erivo made her way to Smith while holding holding hands with her rumored girlfriend Lena Waithe. Tony Goldwyn, the “Scandal” actor who also appears in “King Richard,” cornered Smith on the dance floor.
Popular on Variety
“I’m so happy for you,” Goldwyn gushed to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
It was a relief to be back at the Vanity Fair Oscars party, with it 125-foot carpet, traditionally the final — and most fun — stop on awards season’s long and winding road. (The VIP event was cancelled last year due to COVID-19 and the magazine instead held a series of virtual conversations to benefit the Motion Picture & Television Fund’s pandemic efforts.)
Smith wasn’t the only one who broke out the moves to honor the end of Oscar season. Ariana DeBose, who won best supporting actress for “West Side Story” (and launched her career on TV’s “So You Think You Can Dance”), tore up another dance floor, as she cradled her Oscar in her arm. James Corden, standing in the expanded outdoor patio, performed a solo jig as he nibbled on an In-N-Out burger, the party’s snack food of choice.
Zendaya hung out with her “Dune” co-star Jason Momoa and “Euphoria” showrunner Sam Levinson and actor Angus Cloud. But Jacob Elordi, another member of the ensemble, kept his distance from the rest of the cast, coolly talking to his non-TV-show friends.
Natalie Portman, who isn’t regularly seen at industry events, clocked an appearance with her husband Benjamin Millepied.
Monica Lewinsky had a wingwoman in Savannah Guthrie.
Jessica Chastain, who won best actress for “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” happily talked to anyone who approached her, while her husband Gian Luca Passi de Preposulo guarded her statue.
Andrew Garfield apologized to a man in the bathroom who said his finger was bleeding as he wrapped it in tissue paper. When asked what he was sorry for, Garfield drolly responded: “I was raised too politely.”
Dan Levy gabbed with Billy Eichner.
Maggie Gyllenhaal slowly exhaled a cigarette as she sang along to the Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me.”
Chace Crawford was there too, but “Gossip Girl” wishes she had something to write up that was as dramatic as this year’s Oscars.
