ALLEGEDLY*
THE MORGUECASE CLOSEDSeptember 7, 2026
▶ PLAY THIS CASE BLIND Loads the redacted lede with the answer hidden. Three strikes, same as the day it ran.

Case No. 44: Will Smith

Midway through the 2022 Oscars — less than an hour before winning Best Actor — this Philadelphia-born megastar walked onstage and slapped the presenter over a joke about his wife.

The full story

Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the March 2022 Academy Awards over a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head, then won Best Actor for King Richard the same night. He resigned from the Academy days later and was banned from its events for 10 years.

The clues we handed out

— 'Keep my wife's name out your mouth' — twice, from his seat, on a live broadcast.

— He resigned from the Academy and was banned from its events for 10 years.

— The joke was about G.I. Jane; his wife has alopecia.

— He got his start rapping about parents just not understanding, then moved to a Bel-Air mansion.

— Initials: W.S.

How this case played

ALLEGEDLY* edition No. 44. Three strikes to name Will Smith, with a free clue unlocked after every miss.

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*A blind item you can check. Every puzzle is drawn from the public record — court records, official rulings, and moments that unfolded on live television — and the records are linked above. Allegedly.
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