Staged Jean-Claude Van Damme Red Carpet Slap Resurfaces Following Will Smith Controversy

A clip of actors Jean-Claude van Damme and Dolph Lundgren has resurfaced in the wake of the Will Smith and Chris Rock Oscars drama.

At the 94th Academy Awards, Smith took to the stage to give Rock a slap after the presenter made a 'GI Jane 2' joke about wife Jada Pinkett Smith.

The altercation became the most talked about moment of this years Oscars, with many viewers left confused over whether the beef was real or a skit, with American comedian Kevin T Porter having even taken credit for the joke.

However, editor of Empire magazine Nick de Semlyen has since compared the incident to a clip from the 1992 Cannes Film Festival where Bloodsport's van Damme and Creed II's Lundgren started beefing just outside the festival hall.

The clip shows the Belgian and Swedish actors on the red carpet promoting their sci-fi action film Universal Soldier.

However, things soon appear to turn heated, and the pair - who are surrounded by photographers - each manage to get a shove in before being interrupted by security who diffused the situation by putting themselves between the two men.

Lundgren and van Damme's apparent show of bad-feelings was later revealed as having been fake.

As per Screen Rant, it's reported that it was van Damme's suggestion to stage the fake feud in a bid to pump up the publicity for Universal Soldier which was just months away from release.

In the film, van Damme portrays the hero and Lundgren plays the villain.

Van Damme explained that he was inspired by a moment from the festival the year before where Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger stirred up a storm after they were caught on camera dancing together.

While de Semlyen posted that the fake fight between Lundgren and van Damme reminded him of the recent incident at the Oscars, a body language expert has stated that the Smith's slap of Rock wasn't staged.

Some conspiracy theorists have suggested that Rock was wearing a cheek pad in preparation for the slap, and others have said it is a hoax because 'Will Smith is actually dead', but Smith's public apology to both the Academy and Rock seems to prove otherwise.

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Topics: Oscars, Will Smith, Chris Rock, Film and TV

Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck is a Senior Journalist at LADbible Group. She graduated from The University of Manchester in 2021 with a First in English Literature and Drama, where alongside her studies she was Editor-in-Chief of The Tab Manchester. Poppy is most comfortable when chatting about all things mental health, is proving a drama degree is far from useless by watching and reviewing as many TV shows and films as possible and is such a crisp fanatic the office has been forced to release them in batches.