The Black Panther actress was asked by The Hollywood Reporter about her second-by-second reaction to the drama going viral. She was seated behind Will and wife Jada Pinkett Smith when everything came to a head on March 27.

"Once the moment was over, I realized, 'Oh my God, there's no way all this transpired and I'm not in the shot,'" Nyong'o said with a laugh. "I knew as soon as it was over that I was going to be a meme."
And she was. Nyong'o was trending on social media — along with Will, Rock, Jada and #WhatJustHappened — after the slap seen 'round the world. We now know the drama stemmed from presenter Rock making a G.I. Jane joke about Jada's hair, apparently unaware she has alopecia. After Will returned to his seat, he proceed to scream — multiple times — at Rock to "keep my wife's name out your f***ing mouth."

Nyong'o was in frame just behind Will as he went berserk, so her reaction played out in real-time during the broadcast. She seemed confused at first, perhaps wondering, like everyone else, if the slap was a bit, and then shocked as Will carried on cursing at his seat.

Asked what it as like to be there that night under those conditions, Nyong'o said she had nothing to add beyond what everyone already saw on her face.

"I don't want to add any more fuel to that thing, quite frankly," she said diplomatically.

As for those memes of the 12 Years a Slave star, there were quite a few. "Lupita was all of us" was one of the most popular.