During the 94th Academy Awards on March 27, 2022, the actor Will Smith walked onstage and assaulted the comedian Chris Rock by slapping him across the face during Rock's presentation of Best Documentary Feature. The slap was in response to a joke Rock made about Smith's wife Jada Pinkett Smith's recently shaved head. Smith returned to his seat and shouted profanity twice at Rock, who briefly responded calmly before completing his presentation without further interruption.

The 94th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 27, 2022, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. The awards were scheduled after their usual late February date to avoid conflicting with both the 2022 Winter Olympics and Super Bowl LVI, with the latter being held in nearby Inglewood, California. During the gala, the AMPAS presented Academy Awards in 23 categories honoring films released from March 1 to December 31, 2021. The ceremony, televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Will Packer and Shayla Cowan and was directed by Glenn Weiss. Actresses Regina Hall, Amy Schumer, and Wanda Sykes hosted the show for the first time. Two days earlier, in an event held at the Ray Dolby Ballroom of the Ovation Hollywood complex in Hollywood, the Academy held its 12th annual Governors Awards ceremony.