'There will be consequences', says Academy governor Whoopi Goldberg, but Will Smith's Oscar is SAFE
At the 2022 Oscars, Will Smith stormed up to the stage and slapped Chris Rock after the host cracked a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith's hair, calling it 'GI Jane 2'. Last year, Jada announced that she had shaved her head after being diagnosed with alopecia. The controversial incident has resulted in outrage among viewers.
Now, comedian Whoopi Goldberg expressed her opinion and blatantly predicted that the Academy will not take Will's award back. On Monday, March 28, in the episode of 'The View', the 66-year old co-host, said that Will Smith, who took home the Best Actor award for his performance in 'King Richard' right after abusing the host on stage, is going to keep the award. "We're not going to take that Oscar from him," she said.
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Goldberg added, "There will be consequences I'm sure, but I don't think that's what they're going to do, particularly because Chris said, 'Listen, I'm not pressing any charges.' " Whoopi said of Will, "I think he overreacted. In 2016, Chris was the host of the Oscars that year, and it was funny. I would've been a little annoyed." She further recalled, "But [this year] I think [Will] had one of those moments where it's like, 'G-D-it. Just stop. Just stop."
Voicing her opinion further, Whoopi said, "You've got all the pressure of hoping that you win and trying to keep your face. I get it." Explaining what Will might have felt at that moment, Whoopi said, "Not everybody acts the way we'd like them to under pressure, some people just snap. He snapped."
"I don't know if they spoke, or if he apologized or not. All I know is, sometimes you get to a point and you behave badly," she added. On the other hand, she praised Chris for his reaction by saying, "I think it's remarkable and wonderful that Chris Rock did not take it to that other place it could've gone."
Meanwhile, less than 24 hours after the incident, Will formally apologized to Chris over social media by saying, "Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about [Jada Pinkett Smith]'s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I react emotionally. I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong."