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Did Howard Stern say Will Smith should have been beaten up at Oscars? Shock jock says 'Hollywood is f****d up'

'Some people in the audience at the Academy Awards still should be very ashamed of themselves. I hope they are,' Stern said

Howard Stern feels the way security handled Dave Chappelle's assailant at his concert on May 3, is the same way the Oscars should've handled Will Smith. He expressed his displeasure with the attack on Chappelle on May 4, Wednesday's broadcast of 'The Howard Stern Show'. Stern was referring to the viral incident in which Isaiah Lee, 23, tackled Chapelle while armed with a fake gun during the “Netflix Is a Joke” festival in Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl. The assailant was subsequently beaten to a pulp by security and arrested while A-list celebs including Chris Rock and Jamie Foxx tended to Chappelle. Lee has since been charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon.

"I hate to say it but I've always thought, I told you I used to do live — America's Got Talent. I always thought it's these live shows and everything, it's crazy because people are getting nuttier and nuttier and they're going to use these opportunities to attack people," Stern said. Co-host Robin Quivers remarked, "Every comedian had to be chilled by that attack on Chris Rock because they are in a live venue with people very close to them."

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Stern stated, "When you're doing your job and you're in the zone, you're hyper-focused on it. So being on stage is really weird cause you're not — you can't sit there and go 'I hope no one from the fucking audience comes up.'" Quivers added, "You can't see!"

"Unlike the Academy Awards, Jamie Foxx came running out on stage and helped Dave Chappelle," Stern said. "Now here's the point I want to make about this and how f**ked up Hollywood is. Some people in the audience at the Academy Awards still should be very ashamed of themselves. I hope they are." At Oscars celebs ran upto Smith to ask him how he was while Rock was left standing trying to process what had happened. Smith was asked to leave but when he refused, he was allowed to stay and the actor even collected his first Oscar at the event. 

Stern went on to say, "This guy jumped up on stage and attacked Dave Chappelle. — As soon as that happened, did they let him go back to his seat and laugh and sit next to his wife and then give them an award? No! They took him back stage, they broke his arms and hands so bad."

Stern stated, "They fucking beat the shit out of him. But! At the Academy Awards everyone came over and consoled Will Smith — because it was live television and Hollywood didn't know what to do about Will Smith."

Stern concluded, "Listen! You don't treat Will Smith any different than they did the Chappelle attacker. The audience at the Oscars gave Will Smith a standing ovation after the attack, that's the truth. It's on film, it's not fake news. They didn't break Will's hands, they shook them and it's wrong and they all should be ashamed of themselves."

Smith's incident at the Oscars 2022 overshadowed the event and remains talked about even months after it. Smith shocked Oscar attendees and audiences world over after he took offense at a bald joke cracked by Rock at the expense of Jada Pinkett Smith. An incensed Smith walked up onto the stage and stunned the presenter with a resounding slap across his cheek and warned him to leave his wife's name out of his mouth.