What Was Will Smith And Chris Rock's Net Worth Before Their Oscars Drama?

The 2022 Oscars was the 94th Academy Awards, held on March 27 at Dolby Theatre, Hollywood, Los Angeles, to honor the best films released between March 1 and December 31, 2021.

It was pretty elaborate and hosted by Regina Hall, Amy Schumer, and Wanda Sykes. However, there was quite the drama as an incident occurred on stage in which the legendary Will Smith hit SNL's Chris Rock.

Before moving on to the details of the confrontation, let's take a quick look at who these celebs were, including their net worth before their Oscars spectacle.

The "Bad Boys" star is widely regarded for his features in movie productions; however, before his movie career, he was a rapper in the group "DJ Jazzy & The Fresh Prince."

As Celebrity Networth revealed, the group included himself and Jeffrey Allen Townes, a famous local DJ he met coincidentally. Townes became later known as DJ Jazzy Jeff.

Their music career was quite successful after Russell Simmons signed them to Def Jam Records in 1986. They released five albums together, and in 1988, Will won his first Grammy Award.

Even with his success, life was not so rosy for the superstar, as he lived flamboyantly without paying taxes, leading to a series of debts. At the time, his songs were regarded as "rap sell-outs."

Fortunately for Will, Quincy Jones approached him to star in a television show for quite a lot of money. The "Men In Black 3" actor was initially not interested, but the paycheck won him over.

This led to his feature on the sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." He was broke for the first three years while still successful because 70% of his paycheck went to the IRS for his debts.   

Will's movie career seemed to have paid off more than the music that earned him $10 million during the good times. Between 1993 and 2013, he earned $200 million as an actor, and presently, he is worth $350 million.

The BET Awards recipient earns about $40 million annually from different projects and $80 million in some years. He also never quit his music career as he released a couple of hit singles while being a performer.

He and his wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, own a couple of properties worldwide known to be at least worth $100 million.

Will is also widely loved on social media by more than 45 million followers on Instagram, 30 million followers on TikTok, and 8 million subscribers on YouTube.

The 57-year-old comedian has a significantly lesser net worth than Will, with $60 million. Not only is he known for comedy, but he is also an actor, movie producer, screenwriter, TV producer, and presenter.

According to Celebrity Networth, his net worth could have been higher but reduced due to his loss of about $40 million in a divorce settlement with his ex-wife Malaak Compton. They were married for twenty years and split in 2016.

In the early 1990s, he gained significant recognition due to "Saturday Night Live," and later on, he starred in several movies, including "The Longest Yard" in 2005 and "Grown Ups" in 2010.

Rock also had a hand in the sitcom and semi-autobiography "Everybody Hates Chris" from 2005 to 2009. The production aired for 88 episodes.

The "SNL" star was once voted as the fifth noteworthy stand-up comedian by a Comedy Central poll. He is also regarded as one of the highest-paid comedians globally, earning about $60 million between 2016 and 2017.

Back to the details of the incident between Will and Rock during the 94th Academy Awards, which was caused by a joke and led to a smack. 

At the time, The Blast reported that the 53-year-old actor won his first Oscars for his role in "King Richard."

Rock joked about Jada being in G.I Jane because of her bald head during the ceremony. The "Matrix" actress has previously opened up about her hair loss condition.

Will did not take the joke lightly as he ran on stage to hit Rock and then loudly screamed, "Keep my wife's name out of your f***ing mouth."

The "Hancock" icon felt remorse for his actions afterward as he apologized for his flare-up while giving his acceptance speech.

Fans were not too eager to forgive him as they believed his assault was unnecessary and he did not deserve the award he got during the ceremony.