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Will Smith and Chris Rock provided one of the craziest live television moments in my lifetime. The clips started circulating on social media and the subsequent jokes made the moment iconic almost instantly.

I was born in 1990 and the amount of insane moments that have played out on live television in my lifetime is kind of astounding. I have narrowed down the list to the top four. For me, the moments largely take place 1997 and on because I was too young to remember events in the early 90s like O.J. Simpson’s low-speed chase.

I am also only counting live events intended to be nationally aired. Events like 9/11 don’t make the list because it became national news after the initial incident, although one could make an argument for seeing the second tower being hit. The Jan. 6 insurrection could make the list, but it became a national story as it unfolded.

Also, I don’t take the following events too seriously.

 

Will Smith slaps Chris Rock (2022)

I am not going to go into too much detail because we are all pretty aware what happened. Comedian Chris Rock was presenting an award at the Oscar’s this past weekend. During the typical comedian banter about attendees, he made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith being bald. Her husband, Will Smith, took offense to the joke and walked up on stage and slapped Rock before returning to his seat and shouting towards Rock to keep his wife’s name out of his (bleeping) mouth.

 

Mike Tyson bites Evander Holyfield (1997)

The 1997 fight was the second between the two boxers with Holyfield taking the first contest. Tyson, who was still revered as one of the most intimidating hitters in the sports history, was looking to win back the heavyweight title. In the third round, Tyson bit off a piece of Holyfield’s ear and loss by disqualification. The incident is still synonymous with Tyson’s name although he has done tremendous work on his imagine in the past decade.

 

Malice at the Palace (2004)

The year 2004 was a big year for crazy TV moments. In November, a regular season game between the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers made national headlines. The incident started as just a typical sports brawl between the Pistons’ Ben Wallace and Pacers’ Ron Artest. After the two were separated, Artest went to lay on the scorer’s table to calm down when a fan threw a drink at Artest, prompting the Pacer to go into the stands and fight the audience. Teammate Stephen Jackson followed him and a brawl broke out in the arena. Several players were suspended for multiple games and the NBA opted to tighten up rules revolving around fights, effectively eliminating them from the sport.

 

Super Wardrobe Malfunction (2004)

In 2004, we all learned the term “wardrobe malfunction” thanks to Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson. The two were performing at the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXVIII when Timberlake pulled of a piece of Jackson’s top, exposing her breast. The nationally televised incident stunned viewers and changed halftime shows for the worse for the next several years. For the next two years, the NFL booked Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones, respectively, to opt for a more safe option. The NFL got a little more risky with Prince the following year before going back to Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen.

 

 

Chris Moore is the sports editor for Port Arthur Newsmedia. He can be reached at chris.moore@panews.com.