Like most celebrities that were in attendance, Questlove was taken aback by Will Smith slapping Chris Rock in the moments before he accepted the award for Best Documentary Feature for “Summer of Soul,” according to Page Six. A source close to the drummer told the outlet that he and his producing partners — Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent, and David Dinerstein — were “ecstatic” about their win, but found the situation “odd.”
“The air was taken out of the room by everyone, so how can it not affect the moment?” the source told the outlet. “I think everyone was stunned. It was a stunning moment … It was an odd moment.” However odd the circumstances was, Questlove did manage to block out the drama and deliver an emotional acceptance speech about his film, which tells the story of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, according to Billboard.
Questlove further elaborated on his feelings about the incident during the March 28 episode of “The Tonight Show,” telling host Jimmy Fallon that he didn’t grasp the severity of the situation until the show went to commercial. “I didn’t realize, like, ‘Why is everyone so quiet?’ I literally was not present for that whole entire moment,” he said. “And as I’m walking to the stage, I’m kind of putting two and two together and I realize that that was a real moment.” However, Questlove didn’t seem to harbor any negative feelings toward Smith and Rock, calling them his “very good friends.”
