Son of WRAL anchor saw Will Smith's slap of Chris Rock live at the Oscars
A local man, who WRAL anchor Gerald Owens knows very well, had a front row seat. Gerald Owen' son is a marketing professional by day, and a seat filler one night a year. On Oscar night.
Posted — UpdatedEveryone is talking about "The Slap" at Sunday's Academy Awards when Will Smith hit Chris Rock after the latter made a joke about Smith's wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
A local man that WRAL anchor Gerald Owens knows very well had a front row seat.
Gerald Owens' son is a marketing professional by day and a seat filler one night a year on Oscar night.
Many people wondered if the smack they saw was staged. But Drew Owens, with the closest view of the aftermath, said it was a very real smack.
He said after seeing the smack, he saw Tyler Perry and Denzel Washington go to check on Will Smith.
It was a moment Drew said was tense, unscripted and still fresh in his head.
"I was at Bradley Cooper's table and I was looking out, next to his mom, and we were talking. We all looked at each other and were like 'Wait, was that real?'" said Drew Owens. "Then I realized it was once I got in the hallway and was watching videos on Twitter and stuff from different angles."
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