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Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel didn’t hesitate Sunday to tackle one of the most talked about moments in recent Academy Awards history: Will Smith slapping presenter Chris Rock.
He took multiple shots at that shocking incident, starting off with a joke that with five Irish actors all in the running for Oscars, “the odds of another fight on stage just went way up.”
He added, “We want you to feel safe, most importantly we want me to feel safe … so we have strict policies in place. If anyone in this theater commits an act of violence during this show, you will be awarded the Oscar for best actor and permitted to give a 19-minute long speech.”
“Seriously,” he continued. “The academy has a crisis team in place. If anything unpredictable happens during the ceremony, just do what you did last year: Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Maybe even give the assailant a hug.”
Oscars 2023:‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ wins 7, including best picture
Was Will Smith at the 2023 Oscars?
No. Smith was banned for 10 years for Academy events for hitting Rock, who had made a joke about the hair style of Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, who has alopecia. As a result, Smith was not invited to announce 2023’s best actress award, which he traditionally would have done as last year’s best actor winner for “King Richard.”
Last November, Smith told “Daily Show” host Trevor Noah, “I just, I lost it, you know. I guess what I would say, you just never know what somebody’s going through.” And a few weeks ago, Rock addressed the slap at the end of his live Netflix special, “Selective Outrage.” He said, “I’m not a victim, baby,” but remains furious and watched Smith’s new movie “Emancipation,” where he plays a slave, “just to see him get whooped.”
Host Jimmy Kimmel joked pre-telecast he was studying martial arts
When USA TODAY asked Oscars Host Jimmy Kimmel a few days before the telecast if he was prepared to handle a “Slap, Part Two,” the late-night anchor joked, “Well, I have been studying the martial arts since they asked me to host the show, so I think that’s what they’re referring to.”
Oscars 2023 winners:Brendan Fraser, Michelle Yeoh. See who took home gold at Academy Awards
But he quickly added while he didn’t really anticipate a repeat of last year’s confrontation, if something did happen he wasn’t sure how he’d respond. “I’m ready for some things, but anything that involves violence or me having to run, I’m very not ready,” he said.
Kimmel jokes that anyone wanting to hit him has to go through a big crew
Kimmel kept the Smith references going Sunday night, saying “If any of you get mad at a joke and decide you want to come up here and get jiggy with it, it’s not going to be easy,” in a nod to Smith’s 1997 hit “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It.”
He followed with a list of people in the audience that a potential assailant would have to face on the way, saying “You’ll have to get through Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) before you get to me, battle with Michelle Yeoh (action star and best actress nominee for “Everything Everywhere All at Once”) before you get to me, you’ll have to beat The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) before you get to me, you’ll have to tangle with Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield), you’ll have to tangle with Fabelman (Steven Spielberg), and then you’ll have to go through my right hand man Guillermo (del Toro) if you’re going to get up to this stage. I mean the other Guillermo (Rodriguez, from “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”), the other one.”
Kimmel hit the topic again as best documentary film was announced
A bit later, when he was set to introduce the presenters for best documentary film, Kimmel made another reference to The Slap, as that was the moment last year when the Smith-Rock confrontation took place.
“So, documentary feature is next, which is where we had that little skirmish last year,” he said of the moment that then sparked The Slap. “Hopefully it’ll go off without a hitch, or at least without Hitch,” a reference to the title character in the Will Smith movie, “Hitch.”
Said Kimmel: “Please put your hands together and keep them to yourself for Riz Ahmed and Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson.”
About two hours into the telecast, Kimmel couldn’t resist another crack.
“How are you all holding up?” Kimmel asked, a quip that references the typically long duration of the program. “At this point in the show, it kinda makes you miss the slapping.”
There was one final dig related to the slap at the last moment of Kimmel’s hosting duties. As music played, Kimmel was seen walking up to a board on which was written: “Number of Oscars telecast without incident.”
Kimmel promptly added the number 1.
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