David Spade, Kathy Griffin and More Comedians Defend Chris Rock After Oscars Slap: ‘We All Have to Worry’

Gilbert Gottfried showed support for Chris Rock in his final days. Gottfried, one of the most recognizable voices in show business, died after a long illness on Tuesday. He was 67.

slapped Oscars presenter Chris Rock in the face during the live broadcast on ABC last month.As of Friday, nearly half of respondents — 47% — gave the Best Actor winner an “unfavorable” rating, according to the Yahoo News/YouGov poll taken between March 27 and April 4.That’s worse than the response immediately following the event, on March 28, when just 37% made the same assessment, Yahoo reported. The torrent of statements made by celebrities and industry entities alike have debatably (looking at you, Janet Hubert) skewed toward disapproval for the 53-year-old actor’s shocking behavior, including those levied by actors Jim Carrey, Whoopi Goldberg, Golden Globes host Ricky Gervais and even OJ Simpson.

When Will Smith slapped Chris Rock over an Oscars ceremony punchline, other comedians felt the sting.“I know Chris and I know what it’s like to be on a stage in front of an audience that doesn’t like your material,” said stand-up comedian Judy Gold. “But to be physically assaulted, that’s a whole other thing.

This is wild.

Joseph Patel criticized Will Smith and Chris Rock for the events that led up to "Summer of Soul" winning the Oscar for best documentary feature Sunday night. The "Summer of Soul" producer accused Smith of robbing the category of its moment after he slapped Rock on stage before the comedian announced the award. "It robbed the category of its moment," the producer wrote in since-deleted tweets, People magazine noted.

Will Smith may have publicly apologized for his behavior at the 2022 Oscars, but Chris Rock hasn’t heard from him privately.

Comedians continue to weigh in on Will Smith "smacking the s---" out of Chris Rock during the 2022 Oscars ceremony Sunday night. Many celebrities have taken to social media or shared their thoughts on the matter during podcast appearances.  Smith stormed the Oscars stage and slapped Rock after the comedian made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith's bald head. "Keep my wife's name out your f---ing mouth," Smith could be heard yelling following the physical altercation.

Will Smith has apologised for slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars after the comedian made a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith. The actor shocked the live audience at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday, 27 March, when he strode on stage and hit Rock across the face with an open hand during the ceremony.

LIVE – Updated at 13:21This year’s Oscars featured shocks, sighs and surprises – but all anyone will care about is a slap. The Academy Awards took place on Sunday night, with films including The Power of the Dog, West Side Story, Licorice Pizza and Coda battling it out in the big categories. The biggest story of the night had almost nothing to do with the awards: a shocking altercation between Will Smith and Chris Rock sparked by a joke about Smith’s wife Jada.

Sunday's shocking turn of events at the 2022 Oscars, Will Smith slapping Chris Rock in the face is all anyone was talking about on social media, and proved to be rich comedic fodder for late-night talk show hosts.One host who had particular insight into how wild the night must have truly been was Jimmy Kimmel — who famously hosted the Oscars ceremony in 2017, during which the wrong Best Picture winner was announced, with presenters mistakenly naming instead of the real winner, «I'm a little bummed because now I've hosted only the second craziest Oscars of all time! I only had three years to enjoy that,» Kimmel quipped during his opening monologue.«A lot of my friends have been texting me asking what I would have done if I was host.

Following Sunday’s shocking turn of events at the 2022 Oscars, Will Smith slapping Chris Rock in the face is all anyone was talking about on social media, and proved to be rich comedic fodder for late night talk show hosts.

LIVE – Updated at 00:50This year’s Oscars featured shocks, sighs and surprises – but all anyone will care about is a slap. The Academy Awards took place on Sunday night, with films including The Power of the Dog, West Side Story, Licorice Pizza and Coda battling it out in the big categories. The biggest story of the night had almost nothing to do with the awards: a shocking altercation between Will Smith and Chris Rock sparked by a joke about Smith’s wife Jada.

Will Smith has issued a public apology to Chris Rock after slapping the comedian at the Oscars. Will Smith, right, hits presenter Chris Rock on stage while presenting the award for best documentary feature at the Oscars (Chris Pizzello/AP)The 53-year-old, posting on Instagram, called his behaviour at the Academy Awards "unacceptable and inexcusable" and said he was embarrassed by his actions.

Will Smith has issued a public apology to comedian Chris Rock after slapping him at the 2022 Oscars over a joke he made about the actor's wife Jada Pinkett-Smith. The I Am Legend actor, 53, had taken offence at Chris, 57, taking a quip aimed at 50 year old Jada and her shaved head. Will then proceeded to walk on stage and slap the star across the face, before returning to his seat and shouting: “Get my wife’s name out your f***** mouth”.

Sunday's shocking turn of events at the 2022 Oscars, Will Smith slapping Chris Rock in the face is all anyone was talking about on social media, and proved to be rich comedic fodder for late night talk show hosts.One host who had particular insight into how wild the night must have truly been was Jimmy Kimmel — who famously hosted the Oscars ceremony in 2017, during which the wrong Best Picture winner was announced, with presenters mistakenly naming instead of the real winner, «I'm a little bummed because now I've hosted only the second craziest Oscars of all time! I only had three years to enjoy that,» Kimmel quipped during his opening monologue.«A lot of my friends have been texting me asking what I would have done if I was host.

Will Smith has shared a formal apology to Chris Rock, following the pair’s altercation at this year’s Oscars ceremony.During Sunday’s event (March 27), Smith interrupted a monologue of Rock’s after the latter joked about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, being bald (the Matrix actress has been open in the past about suffering with alopecia). Smith walked up to the stage and slapped Rock, then after returning to his seat, yelled at the presenting comedian: “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth.”Later in the evening, Smith won the Oscar for Best Actor In A Leading Role, taking home the trophy for his work in King Richard.

Well, this changes things!