It has been shown that Will Smith‘s slapping Chris Rock goosed the ratings of last Sunday night’s Oscars by some 600,000 viewers, so the results of a new survey about the show may not come as a surprise.
A OnePoll survey of 1,000 American viewers revealed 63% plan to tune in next year just because of the slap.
Nearly 1 in 10 of respondents say they only tuned in after they heard about the incident — meaning, they witnessed Smith tearfully accepting his Best Actor trophy for King Richard, to a standing ovation.
Not surprisingly, Smith’s attack on Rock was listed as the “most shocking” moment in Oscars history, with 35% of those polled attesting to that.
The slap far outpaced other jaw droppers, like when La La Land was accidentally announced as Best Picture instead of Moonlight in 2018 (19%); Kevin Hart fired as host for old tweets (18%); and Marlon Brando sending Sacheen Littlefeather to decline the Best Actor award in 1973 (17%).
For 17%, Ellen DeGeneres snapping a selfie with celebrities was listed as a shocking moment as well, as was John Travolta puzzlingly pronouncing Idina Menzel‘s name as “Adele Dazeem.”
The slap was even deemed far more shocking than 1974’s infamous onstage Oscars “streaker” incident — that came in at 16%.
Survey questions, methodology and results have not been verified or endorsed by ABC News or The Walt Disney Company.
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