Copes with his own reaction. Amy Schumer spoke frankly about her honest reaction to the fact that Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars in 2022, but some did not like it.
“It was so upsetting,” the 40—year-old co-host of the 94th Annual Academy Awards told Howard Stern on Wednesday, April 13, about an incident on stage during which 53-year-old Smith punched 57-year-old Rock in the face for making fun of Jada Pinkett. Smith.
“People made fun of me for saying it was traumatic, but I don’t think it was traumatic for me,” the Life & Beth star clarified. “I think it was a trauma for all of us.”
Schumer, who co-hosted the Oscars on March 27 with Wanda Sykes and Regina Hall, tweeted on March 30 that she was “still thrilled and traumatized” by the violence inflicted by the “King Richard” star on the graduate “Everyone Hates Chris.” (After hitting Rock for the comedian’s joke about Pinkett Smith’s shaved head—the Red Table Talk host has alopecia—Smith twice shouted at the South Carolina native to “not keep my wife’s name in your fucking mouths.”)
Inside alumni Amy Schumer told 68-year-old Stern about how the quarrel overshadowed Questlove’s win in the Best Documentary category for “Summer of Soul,” which Rock was presenting at the time. “Chris Rock is a good friend of mine. Questlove is one of my best friends. We’re close. She explained that to see this happen, to see your friend being beaten,” it was difficult for her to watch.
Schumer noted that the “trauma” of watching Smith slap Rock was also so severe because the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air alum is the one “who I loved — who we’ve always loved… I don’t remember ever thinking, “I love this guy,”” she said, reasoning that actor Ali “must be in so much pain” that he hit a graduate of the Saturday Night Live program.
“It upset for many reasons, and it upset everyone. [For] everyone at home who didn’t even see what I saw,” she told the radio host. “It was a shock, and it was a bummer.”
Smith, who won the Oscar for Best Actor later that evening for his role as Richard Williams in King Richard, is currently going through severe repercussions after an argument.
The actor “In pursuit of Happiness” publicly apologized to Rock — as well as to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, all viewers, viewers and producers of the show — a day after the ceremony, calling his behavior “unacceptable and inexcusable.”
Four days later, Smith left the Academy. On Friday, April 8, the board announced that the Miami-based rapper has been suspended from participating in the Academy Awards ceremony and all related Academy events for 10 years.
“I accept and respect the Academy’s decision,” the “7 pounds” actor said in a statement to Page Six at the time.
For his part, Rock, who refused to file a police report about the slap, has since mentioned the incident in several of his speeches.
According to an eyewitness, the star of “The Longest Yard” told the bully “no” when they shouted “To hell with Will Smith” during the filming of “Rock” on March 31 in Boston. Two days later, an audience member reported that the comedian joked that he “had an interesting week” during his performance in New Jersey.
