Jimmy Kimmel joked about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at last year’s Oscars ceremony while hosting this year’s 95th Academy Awards on Sunday night. Smith was not present in the audience as the Board of Governors for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences banned him from all Academy events for the next 10 years. Kimmel also poked fun at Tom Cruise and James Cameron for not being present at the event, Steven Spielberg for allegedly never smoking weed, and many more nominees as well as attendees.
“We want you to have fun, feel safe and, most importantly, we want me feel safe,” Kimmel told the audience. “So, we have strict policies in pace. If anyone in this theater commits an act of violence at any point during the show, you will be awarded the Oscar for best actor and permitted to give a 19-minute long speech. But seriously, the academy has a crisis team in place. If anything unpredictable or violent happens during the show, sit there and do absolutely nothing. Maybe even give the assailant a hug.”
Later in the night, Kimmel warned that anyone who wanted to “get jiggy with it” would have to go through the Oscars’ new crisis team. The remark was a reference to Smith’s 1997 single, “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It.” Kimmel also said that the show would go off without a “Hitch,” referencing Smith’s 2005 romantic comedy. Lastly, after noting the high number of Irish actors nominated for awards, he joked that the “odds of another fight on stage just went way up.”
The host’s jabs come less than a month after Chris Rock finally addressed the infamous incident in his Netflix special, Selective Outrage. “Everybody fuckin’ knows. Yes, it happened, like a year ago, I got smacked at the fucking Oscars by this motherfucker. People are like, ‘Did it hurt? It still hurts! I’ve got ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ears,” he said. Rock also joked about Smith’s wife, Jada, and her “entanglement” with August Alsina.
Here’s the portion of Jimmy Kimmel’s opening monologue where he referenced Will Smith’s slap from last year’s show! 😂#Oscars pic.twitter.com/2ksrwAnRJa
— Screen Off Script (@ScreenOffScript) March 13, 2023
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