Will Smith predicted that he would 'choose chaos' hours before smacking Chris Rock

In what has been branded the "ugliest moment in Oscars history", last night's hotly anticipated ceremony was certainly eventful.

Things soon took a turn for the worst when Will Smith took the stage and smacked Chris Rock following a tasteless joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith. But now, attention has been turned to his Instagram post earlier that day.

Hours ahead of the Oscars, the actor shared a brief clip of him and Jada suited and booted for the ceremony. Followers later turned their attention to the caption as it appeared to foreshadow the events to come.

"Me 'n @jadapinkettsmith got all dressed up to choose chaos," Smith captioned the clip, which later sparked a debate among the comments. Some followers joked about the irony, saying: "And choose chaos you did."

While others condemned the post and Smiths' actions: "lighten up. You just embarrassed yourself," they said.

A third added: "Y'all been choosing chaos for a while now I'm ready for it to stop."

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As Rock presented an award for best documentary, he joked that Pinkett-Smith's appearance resembled that of G.I. Jane due to hair loss caused by alopecia.

Footage shows Smith initially laughing at the joke – but naturally, Pinkett-Smith looked appalled by the tasteless remark. Moments later, Smith jumped to the stage and smacked Rock across his face.

"Will Smith just smacked the s*** out of me," Rock said. Smith, who'd returned to his seat, looked furious as he shouted: "Keep my wife's name out of your f***ing mouth."

Warning: Explicit language.

Bradley Cooper, Denzel Washington and Tyler Perry were consoling Smith following the incident.

He later received an award for Best Actor in King Richard and took to the stage with an emotional speech. Smith described his character as a "fierce defender of his family".

"I'm being called on in my life to love people and to protect people and to be a river to my people," Smith said.

He continued: "I know, to do what we do, we've gotta be able to take abuse. You've gotta be able to have people talk crazy about you. In this business, you've gotta be able to have people disrespecting you.

"You've gotta smile and pretend that that's okay. But Richard Williams and what I love – what Denzel [Washington] said to me a few minutes ago – 'In your highest moments, be careful, that's when the devil comes for you.'"

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