Jimmy Kimmel shreds the Academy for allowing Will Smith to claim his Oscar and give a speech
Jimmy Kimmel weighed in on the claim by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that they had asked actor Will Smith to leave the Oscars venue after he slapped Chris Rock but the actor refused to do so. On Wednesday, 30 March, the American host joked about the claim during his late-night show 'Jimmy Kimmel Live'.
Considering the claim, Kimmel joked, “I don’t know who asked him to leave. Maybe Jazzy Jeff asked him?” Then, he added. “Who would have accepted his Oscar if he was thrown out? Chris Rock, maybe? I don’t know!” Then, mocking the Academy, he further said, "You know, usually when someone’s asked to leave and refuses to go, that’s when security comes in and takes that person away. But in this case, they decided to give him an Oscar and let him back onstage to speak.”
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After the 'slapgate' incident went viral across the globe, the Academy said that it had asked Smith to leave following the slap, and he refused. CNN’s Chloe Melas said, “There were immediate discussions about removing Smith from the Oscars post-smack. But the Academy decision-makers were seated in various spots in the Dolby Theater and couldn’t mobilize to make a decision before he won best actor.” All these claims lead Kimmel to mock the situation.
This is not the first time the American host has given his opinion on the situation as a former Oscar host. Kimmel has repeatedly spoken about the slap between Smith and Rock. First, he questioned Smith for initially laughing at Chris Rock’s joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head (as she was suffering from alopecia) before storming the stage and smacking the presenter. Then Kimmel mocked Fox News’ baseless theory that the whole incident was staged.
Meanwhile, after Jimmy Kimmel taped his show and commented on the situation. Chris Rock sort of broke his silence about the slap that Smith during a stand-up comedy show in Boston. He said, “I don’t have a bunch of stories about what happened, so if you came to hear that, I have a whole show I wrote before this weekend. I’m still kind of processing what happened. So, at some point, I’ll talk about that. And it will be serious and funny.” According to reports, the folks who paid thousands of dollars for tickets to hear Rock's take on the situation were surely disappointed with Rock's remark.