“‘The Academy has an emergency team. If anything unexpected or violent happens during the ceremony, you do what you did last year: nothing. Sit there and do absolutely nothing. Maybe even hug the attacker.'” He 2023 Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel was roasting the audience and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Sunday for essentially freezing during “The Slap” at last year’s Academy Awards. Comedian and late-night host Kimmel for his opening monologue on the most shocking moment in recent Oscars history. It should come as little surprise: when Will Smith responded to a joke that host Chris Rock made about the “Ali” actor’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, by walking on stage and slapping Rock in the face during last year’s awards show. Then Smith returned to his seat, where he yelled “Keep my wife’s name out of your mouth.” twice. He then won a best actor Oscar for playing Venus and Serena Williams’ father in “King Richard” later in the show, only It was his first Oscar. And Smith gave a rousing speech while accepting his award. “Art imitates life. I look like a crazy dad,” Smith said. “But love will make you do crazy things.” So Kimmel joked during this year’s ceremony that Oscar attendees — and more importantly, himself — should feel safe during Sunday night’s telecast. That’s why it’s so important. He said the Academy has created a policy where, “If anybody in this theater commits an act of violence at any point in the show, you’re going to be awarded the Oscar for Best Actor and you’re allowed to go 19 minutes longer.” . speech.” And he added, “If one of you gets a joke and you decide you want to come up here and jiggy with it” — referencing Smith’s 1997 hit “Gettin’ Jiggy With It” — it’s not easy. Last year’s Oscar slap threatened to overshadow this year’s awards show. Academy president Janet Yang was asked about the “elephant in the room” on the red carpet before the awards began. “Our response was inadequate, and now we’re moving on, ” she said. Kimmel also referenced the Smith slap before the show, suggesting the switch from a red carpet to a champagne-colored one, “shows how confident we are that no blood will be spilled.” On Smith for the next 10 years, the Oscars and all the Academy has been banned from awards events. He released a public video apology last July, saying, “I’ve reached out to Chris, and the message that came back is that he’s not ready to talk. But when he is, he will be.” Will contact.” Related: Will Smith admitted ‘I’m a loser’ while slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars, adding, “So I’ll tell you, Chris, I apologize. My behavior was unacceptable, and I’m here whenever you’re ready to talk. I’m human and I make mistakes and I try not to think of myself as a piece of s—. Rock doesn’t seem ready to let bygones be bygones just yet, as he took plenty of verbal swings at Smith during his recent live Netflix NFLX, -1.69% comedy special. read more: Chris Rock on why he didn’t hit Will Smith: ‘I took that hit like Pacquiao’ In his bits that night, Rock said he used to love Smith. “I rooted for him my whole life,” he said. “And now I see ‘liberation.’ [the Apple TV+
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film in which Smith plays a slave] Just to watch him kill.”
