Two shocked celebrity faces – Lupita Nyong'o's and Nicole Kidman's - became viral memes after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars. The memes showed what appeared to be Lupita and Nicole reacting to "the slap that was seen around the world" but it appears that while the Lupita meme was really from the moment that Will Smith marched onto stage and struck Chris Rock, the Nicole meme wasn't. It's not hard to see why Nicole Kidman went viral – she's turning in her seat, mouth open and eyes wide; however, that's not shock on Nicole's face but delight.
First up, here are the memes:
Nicole Kidman reacting to the Chris Rock and Will Smith incident at the #Oscars . A NEW MEME IS BORN.???????????????? pic.twitter.com/X19AE19OUv
— Mauli Adam (@mauli_adam) March 28, 2022
Nicole Kidman finally trading in the seal clap meme for her Will Smith/Chris Rock slap reaction ???????????? #Oscars pic.twitter.com/H84BqMWgAa
— Joe (@onlyjoekin_) March 28, 2022
nicole kidman was all of us pic.twitter.com/f2F2hwvV4w
— shauna (@goldengateblond) March 28, 2022
"Why isn't this on TV," one tweet asked. The reason Nicole Kidman's face wasn't on TV was because it happened in the part of the Oscars that was not broadcast – when eight awards were announced off-camera – and it had been posted by Getty Images much before Will Smith slapped Chris Rock, even before the live broadcast began. It was, however, Nicole's reaction to someone she saw – actress Jessica Chastain who then came over to where Nicole and husband Keith Urban were sitting.
If Nicole's response to seeing Jessica seems a bit extreme, keep in mind that she was very affectionate with other celebrity friends as well – notably her Big Little Lies co-star Zoe Kravitz.
Nicole Kidman and Jessica Chastain were both nominated for the Best Actress Oscar, Nicole for Being The Ricardos and Jessica for The Eyes Of Tammy Faye – Jessica won.
