MrBeast's YouTube Record Destroyed By Will Smith Oscars Slap

For those who have been on a media blackout, the Oscars took place on Sunday night. However, instead of everyone celebrating Will Smith’s achievement, as he became the fifth black man to take home the Academy Award for the best actor, the world appears fascinated by him slapping comedian and host Chris Rock right in the kisser.

Smith won his first Oscar for his role as Richard Williams, father and coach of tennis superstars, Venus and Serena Williams, in the biopic King Richard. He was previously nominated twice before in the same category, for his roles in Ali and The Pursuit Of Happyness. In his public apology to Rock, Smith - who made a name for himself as an actor on The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air having achieved stardom in the music world as one-half of Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince - lamented that the incident overshadowed the film's achievement. 

“I would like to apologise to the Williams Family and my King Richard Family. I deeply regret that my behaviour has stained what has been an otherwise gorgeous journey for all of us.”

Will Smith’s mum has also weighed in on both his achievement and outburst which took place on Sunday.

As if to prove just how much the world has been focused on Smith’s altercation with Rock, the clip has gained the most views in a single day for a YouTube video, outside of music and trailers. As spotted by Dexerto, in the 24 hours since it was first uploaded, the video which features Rock’s joke, Smith’s hit, and his angry comments afterwards, received 48 million views.

The previous record-holder, with over 42 million views gained in a single 24-hour period, was one of YouTube’s biggest content creators, Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson. His life-size replica of Netflix hit TV show Squid Game, except without all the murders, was watched the world over. In it MrBeast gave away $456,000 to the winner of his competition involving oversized playground games.

It seems that he’s got his sights set to beat the record once again as the YouTube star claims he has a project even bigger than his Squid Game one currently in the works. Only time will tell whether his latest captivates the masses quite like two millionaires having a bit of a scuffle.