Will Smith gets OJ Simpson's vote after The Juice says he 'understands the feeling' behind the slap
If there is one person who can relate to Will Smith's slapgate outburst at the 94th Academy Awards on Sunday, March 27, it is OJ Simpson. After the frenzy went down, OJ expressed his take on the incident with a video he shared on Twitter. He said that he felt exactly the same way when 'every comedian in the country had an OJ routine.'
The double-acquitted murder suspect also said, "Look, I understood the feeling." During the Oscar ceremony, Will Smith slapped Chris Rock across the face after the latter made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head as he compared her to G.I. Jane.
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In his video, OJ continued, "In my life, I've been through a lot of crap when I was raising two young kids and every comedian in the country had an O.J. routine, and don't think I wouldn't want to [b**ch] slap a couple of them, but you got to accept that it's human."
He was wrong but I understand the sentiment. pic.twitter.com/aURe1pyubg
— O.J. Simpson (@TheRealOJ32) March 29, 2022
Simpson was convicted in 2008 in Las Vegas for armed robbery before he was paroled nine years later, in 2017. He shared how he feels sympathetic towards Will Smith, although he does not support the latter's behavior and feels the actor was wrong to hurt the comedian over what OJ feels was a 'semi un-funny joke'. He added, "Hey, look, it was unfortunate. I think Will was wrong."
He then proceeded to say that 'after what happened to me in Las Vegas', authorities would have most definitely arrested him. After he attempted to steal back what he claimed was actually his own memorabilia at gunpoint, OJ was convicted and received a 33-year sentence before being paroled. OJ said, "If I would have done that in front of a billion people watching around the world, they would have given me life without [parole], I'm just saying." His lawyer in Las Vegas, Malcolm LaVergne, said, "Mr. Simpson is a completely free man now."
Meanwhile, Chris Rock is reportedly not pursuing the legal course after the slapping incident. The LAPD confirmed Rock didn't file a charge in a statement that said: ''The individual involved has declined to file a police report. If the involved party desires a police report at a later date, LAPD will be available to complete an investigative report.'