Jim Carrey blasts Will Smith for his assault on Chris Rock that occurred Sunday night at the Oscars.
Chris Rock made a joke at the expense of the wife of Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, which at first saw Will Smith laugh about, but then Will Smith stormed the stage and slapped Chris Rock in the face, and when Smith went back to his seat, Smith yelled obscenities at Rock (watch the uncensored footage here).
Minutes later then saw Will Smith win the Best Actor Oscar for King Richard where he got a standing ovation.
Jim Carrey, who has been doing press for Sonic the Hedgehog 2, responded to what he saw on Sunday night and told CBS Mornings‘ Gayle King he was sickened by the incident.
“I was sickened,” Carrey said. “I was sickened by the standing ovation. I felt like Hollywood is just spineless en masse and it really felt like this is a really clear indication that we’re not the cool club anymore.”
Will Smith should have been arrested says Jim Carrey
Gayle King went on to remark there is a question if anybody else would have done that they would have been escorted out by security or even arrested.
“He should have been,” interjected Carrey and remarked about Chris Rock refusing to press charges, “He doesn’t want the hassle.”
Jim Carrey continued, “I’d have announced this morning that I was suing Will for $200 million because that video is going to be there forever, it’s going to be ubiquitous. That insult is gonna last a very long time. If you want to yell from the audience and show disapproval or say something on Twitter or whatever… You do not have the right to walk up on stage and smack somebody in the face because they said words.”
King remarked that the incident escalated, but Jim Carrey didn’t agree.
“It didn’t escalate,” Carrey concluded, “[The slap] came out of nowhere because Will has something going on inside him that’s frustrated, and I wish him the best. I really do. I have nothing against Will Smith. He’s done great things, but that was not a good moment. It cast a pall over everyone’s shining moment last night. A lot of people worked really hard to get to that place, and to have their moment in the sun and to get their reward for the really hard work they did…It was a selfish moment that cast a pall over the whole thing.”
Will Smith did apologize to Chris Rock after the Oscars: “Jokes at my expense are part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally. I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be,” wrote Smith.
Responses to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars have been divided — but Jenna Wortham (@jennydeluxe) says most people don’t have the full story of the incident.
“It’s something of a magnitude that I don’t think can be worked out on a public stage,” she says. pic.twitter.com/5qXIq30Y1F
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) March 29, 2022
