Chris Rock should be ‘proud’ of how he took Oscars slap: Kimmel

Jimmy Kimmel is getting ready to suit up to host the 2023 Oscars, which has him reminiscing on Oscars of years past.

When Kimmel, 55, hosted the Oscars for the first time in 2017, the wrong winner for Best Picture was announced in what he called “a very intense and confusing end to what was otherwise a pretty great night.”

But while at the time that might have seemed like the most dramatic Oscars ever, Kimmel still can’t get over what happened at last year’s Oscars: the slap heard around the world.

Will Smith, 54, slapped 94th Academy Awards presenter Chris Rock, 58, after the comedian made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair — which Smith took as a jab at his 51-year-old wife’s struggle with alopecia. The tone-deaf comment inspired the actor to hustle up to the Los Angeles Dolby Theatre stage and smack Rock in the face.

“It’s still shocking that that happened,” the late-night talk show host told People. “To see something like that happen outside of like ‘The Maury Povich Show‘ is shocking. And then for it to happen on the Oscars magnifies it by about a million times.”

He continued, “I think it’s something that everybody regrets and that we will move past. One day it will be looked at in the same way as that guy running onstage naked is looked at: a weird moment that we all talked about and we hopefully learn from.”

Kimmel shared that he hasn’t talked to Smith, but he has spoken to Rock — and he applauds the comedian for how he handled it.

“I mean, to be slapped in the face and to stay that cool is something that Chris should be proud of,” Kimmel said. “Chris’ grandchildren, I hope, will still be proud of that when he’s dead and gone.”

Smith has since apologized to Rock in an Instagram post, characterizing his actions as “unacceptable and inexcusable.” 

He furthermore announced his resignation from the academy following the outburst, as the academy in turn promised a formal disciplinary review.

It was ultimately decided that Smith has been banned from appearing at the Oscars ceremony for 10 years following the incident.

Smith recently poked fun at the 2022 altercation in a TikTok video where he acts as though he’s about to ask his Academy Award for Best Actor — which he won for his role in “King Richard” during that fateful ceremony — what it thinks of him.

On Wednesday, the embattled actor appeared onstage for the first time since the night of the slap at the African American Film Critics Association Awards in Los Angeles, where he received the Beacon Award for his role in the recent Apple TV+ film “Emancipation” —although he didn’t address the scandal.

As for Rock, he will reportedly speak out about the night Smith smacked him in an unedited Netflix special called “Selective Outrage,” which airs Saturday at 10 p.m. ET.

He quips in the special, “The other day, I watched ‘Emancipation’ just so I could watch him getting whipped.” 

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will have a “crisis team” on standby at the 2023 Oscars, just in case this Oscars isn’t slap-free.

Kimmel will host the Oscars for a third time on Sunday, March 12, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.