Rose Rock originally believed she was watching a staged skit when Will Smith slapped her son at last month’s Academy Awards, but realized it was no joke once Smith “started using obscenities,” she told South Carolina news station WIS.

“When he slapped Chris, he slapped all of us,” Rose, a motivational speaker, said. “He really slapped me.”

Smith walked onstage during the March 27 ceremony and slapped Chris Rock over a joke the comedian told about the shaved head of the actor’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. She has alopecia, a condition that causes hair loss.

Shortly after the slap, Smith won the Oscar for best actor for his portrayal of Venus and Serena Williams’ father in the biopic “King Richard.” He apologized to Rock the following day.

Smith has since resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He was later banned from attending the Oscars over the next 10 years following an investigation by the Academy.

Rose Rock didn’t attend the Oscars with her son, and told WIS she’s proud of how her son, who remained onstage and presented an award, reacted.

She said of Smith, “You reacted to your wife giving you the side-eye and you went and made her day because she was mulled over laughing when it happened.”

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Megan Thee Stallion claims fellow rapper Tory Lanez offered her $1 million to keep quiet immediately after he allegedly shot her foot, and says she told authorities she stepped on glass because she was afraid police would open fire.

Megan was moved to tears as she recounted the 2020 incident during an interview Monday on “CBS Mornings,” claiming Lanez opened fire following an argument after leaving a party at Kylie Jenner’s house in Los Angeles.

“I look down at my feet and I’m like, ‘Oh my God.’ I’m really bleeding,” Megan told host Gayle King.

Megan, 27, claims Lanez said ‘dance, b---h’ and shot at her multiple times. She claims he apologized moments later.

“He said, ‘I’m so sorry. Please don’t tell nobody. I’ll give y’all $1 million if y’all don’t say nothing,’” Megan said. “And I’m like, ‘What are you talking about? Why are you offering me money right now? Help me. And if you’re sorry, just help me.’”

Police were called to the scene, said Megan, who recalled helicopters arriving.

“The George Floyd incident had just happened,” Megan told King. “The police are definitely very much shoot first, ask questions after. So I’m like, it’s a hot gun in the car, I’m bleeding, I’ve been shot, they’re about to kill somebody. Something bad is about to happen.”

She continued, “I just said, ‘I stepped on glass.’ For some reason, I was just trying to protect all of us because I didn’t want them to kill us.”

The three-time Grammy winner says she stuck with the glass story after being taken to the hospital, until police left. A doctor then told Megan she had bullet fragments in both feet, she claimed.

Lanez, 29, has denied Megan’s allegation and pleaded not guilty to all charges, which include assault with a semiautomatic firearm. A trial is expected to begin in September.

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NEW YORK (AP) — Dozens of notebooks, scripts, speeches, drafts of letters, artwork and even signed baseballs owned by late playwright Neil Simon have been donated to the Library of Congress. The collection offers historians access to the creative process of American theater’s most successful and prolific playwright.

The collection includes about 7,700 items documenting the evolution of Simon's plays and screenplays, including “Barefoot in the Park,” “The Sunshine Boys” and “Brighton Beach Memoirs.”

The donation was announced at a special event with actors Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker — both currently starring in a Broadway revival of “Plaza Suite” — and Elaine Joyce, Simon’s widow, Monday night at the Library.

The cache includes a yellowing first act of “Barefoot in the Park,” plenty of notes for actors or directors, and over a dozen notepads filled with watercolors, drawings and cartoons by Simon. There are also several scripts for shows never completed or produced.

“The donation of Simon’s papers to our nation’s library is a treasured addition to our holdings. It ensures Simon’s legacy is preserved for generations to come,” Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said in a statement.

Simon was nominated for 14 Tony Awards throughout his career and won three, in addition to a special prize for contribution to the theater. He also won the Pulitzer Prize, the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and a Kennedy Center honor. He died in 2018.

From combined wire services