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WILD WILD WILL
WILL Smith's violent slap across Chris Rock's face at the Oscars on Sunday night was staged, a majority of Americans believe.
Despite this, most Americans also believe that Smith should be stripped of his Best Actor gong, The US Sun can reveal based on results from an exclusive poll.
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At the Oscars ceremony on Sunday night, presenter Chris Rock cracked a supposed joke at the expense of Will's wife, Jada, regarding her hair loss that is a result of alopecia.
Husband Will initially seemed to laugh, but then abruptly walked on stage and slapped comedian Chris round the face.
After the slap, Will then returned to his seat, shouting at Chris Rock to: "Keep my wife's name out of your (expletive) mouth.”
About 40 minutes later, Will took to the stage again, having won Best Actor for his part in King Richard.
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In the biopic, Will plays the tough-love father of Venus and Serena Williams, who guided the tennis stars' careers to glory.
Despite Will's work in King Richard, the poll found 69 percent of Americans strongly or somewhat agree that his extreme behavior at Hollywood's most glitzy event should see him de-gonged of his first and only Oscar.
Of those polled, 42 percent strongly agree that it should be taken from the 'Bad Boys' actor.
A further 27 percent somewhat agree that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences should take the virtually unprecedented step of removing an Oscars award.
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In total, 63 percent of respondents said they either strongly or somewhat agree that the star's actions were justified.
Only 18 percent thought his actions were not justified, with 11 percent stating that they strongly disagree that the on-stage slap was acceptable behavior.
The exclusive poll surveyed 1003 people across the United States.
The majority of those surveyed were female (59 percent), with 33 percent of respondents reportedly being based in the northeast.
The divided poll reveals American opinion is split on the incident that had people all over the world talking.
Following the headline-grabbing moment, Chris declined to press charges against Will, but that has not put end to it.
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Just 22 percent of those polled told The US Sun that they somewhat or strongly disagree that the act was staged.
The results of the Academy's inquiry into Will's behavior will be closely watched.
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