Lineker trolled for suggesting 'Will Smith should play Ali' after slapping Chris Rock during Oscars

He already did, Gary! Netizens have trolled legendary England striker and football pundit Gary Lineker after the latter suggested that 'Will Smith should play Muhammad Ali in a movie' after slapping Chris Rock during the Oscars 2022 ceremony held in Los Angeles.

The former Tottenham and Leicester striker sparked instant reaction among users of the micro-blogging site, with several suggesting that Lineker should stick to football and not comment about movies. Will Smith portrayed legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, in 2001, giving the audience an unforgettable performance and bagging him an Academy Award nomination.

An hour later, Lineker appeared to be cleaning up this goof-up with a tweet, "This is better than any of the movies." Here's a look at some of the comments:

Meanwhile, Liverpool legend and another football pundit Jamie Carragher took to Instagram to share a photograph of himself shaking hands with a rather displeased Steven Gerrard with a caption that read, "Will Smith, Chris Rock before next year's Oscars."

This comment drew instant reactions from the football community, including Gerrard, who replied with two 'face with tears of joy' emojis.

Gary Lineker's comments came even as several WWE fans suggested that a Will Smith vs Chris Rock match should take place at next week's Wrestlemania 38.

As Chris Rock took the Oscar 2022 stage to present the best documentary award, the comedian joked about Jada Pinkett Smith. While Will Smith laughed a bit initially, Jada was seen rolling her eyes. Soon after, Will went up to the stage and slapped Chris.

"Javier Bardem and his wife are both nominated. Now, if she loses, he can't win," Rock started his piece, adding, "He is praying that Will Smith wins, like, please, lord. Jada, I love you. 'G.I. Jane 2,' can't wait to see it, all right?" As the joke received a tepid response, Rock added, "That was a nice one!"

Jada has previously opened up about being diagnosed with alopecia, a hair loss condition. She first opened up about it in 2018 and has since spoken up about her challenges of living with the illness on social media.

After Will slapped Chris, the entire auditorium went silent for a few seconds, Will came back to his seat and shouted, "Keep my wife's name out of your (expletive) mouth."

Even though there was no mic on Will, his audio was audible. At the end of the exchange, Chris said, "That was the greatest night in the history of television."

Soon after this, Will won his first Oscar. He won Best Actor for his performance in King Richard. In his acceptance speech, Will apologised to the Academy and spoke about the importance of family in his life. 

"I wanna apologise to the Academy… to all my fellow nominees. Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father! Love will make you do crazy things." Will, who plays Richard Williams, father to tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams in the film, said.

Also read: Ace! That's what Venus and Serena Williams served at Oscar 2022 with gorgeous plunging gowns