Will Smith ‘still mad’ about video from 2016 when he slapped Chris Rock

A video from five years before Will Smith and Chris Rock sensationally clashed at the Oscars has resurfaced, shining some light on the feud between the pair.

A video from five years before Will Smith and Chris Rock sensationally clashed at the Oscars has resurfaced, shining some light on the long-running feud between the pair.

The video, from February 2016, shows Rock again presenting the Academy Awards.

Just as he did on Monday, Rock made a joke at the 2016 ceremony about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

The actress had decided to boycott the Oscars that year after the previous ceremony saw all 20 acting nominations go to white actors.

Rock suggested Pinkett Smith didn’t deserve to be there in the first place.

“Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna’s panties. I wasn’t invited,” he told the audience.

A source told People magazine that the King Richard star had not forgotten the swipe at his wife from 2016. It may have been bubbling below the surface when Rock made a joke about Pinkett Smith having hair-loss condition alopecia at Sunday night’s awards.

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Will Smith accepts the award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for "King Richard" with wife Jada Pinkett-Smith. Picture: Myung Chun/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

“When Chris hosted the Oscars in 2016, Jada was boycotting because of ‘Oscars So White’. In his monologue, he made fun of her, saying she can’t boycott something she wasn’t invited to,” the insider told People. “Will was still mad about that.”

If you missed it the drama from Sunday, it began when Rock joked: “Jada, I love you, G.I Jane 2 can’t wait to see it”, in reference to the 1997 movie in which Demi Moore plays a bald marine.

She was clearly upset by the joke and rolled her eyes as the audience laughed, prompting her husband to march on stage and slap Rock in the face before returning to his seat and repeatedly screaming: “Keep my wife’s name out your f**king mouth!”

A tweet from a viewer of that 2016 awards show also resurfaced on Twitter on Monday after the public slapping.

In it, the user wrote: “Will Smith has to punch Chris Rock in the face … He has no choice.”

It has since been liked more than 150,000 times.

Will Smith has to punch Chris Rock in the face .... He has no choice

— J A S O N (@_ja_s_on_) February 29, 2016

Meanwhile, Smith has publicly apologised to Rock after the now-infamous slap.

The Best Actor winner, 53, took to Instagram on Tuesday morning to post a lengthy note saying he was ashamed of his behaviour at the awards show.

“My behaviour at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable,” Smith wrote. “Jokes at my expense are a part of the job but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally.

“I would like to publicly apologise to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be.

“There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.”

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith at the Oscars. Picture: P. Lehman/Future Publishing via Getty Images

The slap was felt around the world. Picture: Robyn Beck/AFP

The actor continued: “I would also like to apologise to the Academy, the producers of the show, all the attendees and everyone watching around the world. I would like to apologise to the Williams family and my King Richard family.

“I deeply regret that my behaviour has stained what has been an otherwise gorgeous journey for all of us.

“I am a work in progress.”