Oscars host Wanda Sykes demands apology from Will Smith for Chris Rock slap & says he ‘should’ve been removed’ from show
OSCARS host Wanda Sykes has demanded an apology from Will Smith for his shocking Chris Rock slap.
Speaking on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Wanda addressed the controversial moment and said that she believes he owes the hosts an apology too.
Will shocked Oscars viewers around the world on Sunday night when he stormed the stage and slapped presenter Chris, after the comedian made a poorly-received joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair loss.
He then returned to his seat and furiously shouted: “Leave my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth.”
Speaking to Ellen, Wanda said: “It was sickening, absolutely sickening. I physically felt ill. And I’m still a little traumatized by it.”
She continued: “For them to let him stay in that room and enjoy the rest of the show and accept his award, I was like ‘how gross is this. This is just the wrong message.’”
Will Smith went on to win Best Actor for his role in King Richard.
He made a teary acceptance speech, in which he said sorry to the Academy and his fellow nominees.
However, the A-lister failed to mention Chris at all.
Wanda didn’t agree that he deserved to stay to receive his award.
“You assault somebody, you get escorted out the building”, she said.
“For them to let him continue, I thought it was gross.”
The host added that she wished she had been able to tell the audience that Will had been made to leave the ceremony.
In an online statement, Will has since apologized to Chris, and called his actions “poisonous and destructive”.
However, Wanda believes that one apology is not enough.
She said: “I know he apologized to Chris, but I believe we were the hosts, so this our house, we’re inviting you, we’re hosting, we’re gonna take care of y’all tonight, make sure you have a good time, and no-one has apologized to us, and we worked really hard to put that show together.”
Ellen agreed: “It’s not an example to set.”
WILD WILD WILL
Despite the controversy, a poll by The US Sun has exclusively revealed that a majority of Americans believe the violent slap was staged.
However, most Americans also believe that Smith should be stripped of his Best Actor gong.
Chris has declined to press charges against Will, but that has by no means put an end to the discussion about the slap.
The Academy has “condemned” Will’s actions and confirmed a “formal review”.
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The slap could see Will lose his Best Actor award.
A clip of the altercation has smashed YouTube’s records after accruing 50 million views in a single day.
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