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Ciara O'Rourke
By Ciara O'Rourke March 29, 2022

No, this isn’t a photo of Nicole Kidman reacting to Will Smith and Chris Rock

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  • A photo taken at the Academy Awards shows Nicole Kidman apparently excited to see fellow actress Jessica Chastain. It doesn’t show her shocked that Will Smith slapped Chris Rock, as some social media posts have said. 
 

An image of actress Nicole Kidman at the Academy Awards on March 27, with her mouth open and arms outstretched, is being shared on social media as an example of another celebrity reacting to actor Will Smith slapping comedian Chris Rock. 

"Nicole Kidman reacting to the Chris Rock and Will Smith incident at the #Oscars," a March 27 tweet said. "A NEW MEME IS BORN."

We’ve already debunked a claim that photos in a grid showing actors and actresses apparently aghast were taken that night — they were taken in 2017, when "La La Land" was mistakenly announced as Best Picture, and its producers had to hand over their Oscars to the cast and crew of the real winner, "Moonlight." 

Unlike those shots, this one of Kidman was taken in 2022. But she wasn’t wide-eyed in that moment because of Smith. 

This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

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The photo was taken by Los Angeles Times photographer Myung Chun. Vulture reported that it was posted to Getty Images hours before the altercation between Smith and Rock happened, during the untelevised first hour of the ceremony. 

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Chun told Vulture that Kidman appeared to be excited to spot actress Jessica Chastain across the room when she reached out her arms and waved to her with both hands. 

"Shortly thereafter, Chastain walked over to greet Kidman and her husband Keith Urban," Chun told Vulture.

We rate this post False.

 

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No, this isn’t a photo of Nicole Kidman reacting to Will Smith and Chris Rock

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