Jim Carrey has reacted to Will Smith beating Chris Rock at the Oscars.
The actor is among the latest in a line of celebrities to speak out about the dramatic moment that took place after Rock joked about Jada Pinkett Smith’s baldness and dubbed her “GI Jane.”
In an interview with CBS This Morning on March 29, Carrey expressed his disapproval of how the situation was handled, particularly that Smith was still winning best actor awards for King Richard shortly after.
“I was disgusted by the standing ovation. Hollywood is just spineless en masse and it really felt like that was a really clear indication that we’re not the cool club anymore,” Carrey said.
Host Gayle King went on to speculate, “If anyone else had left the audience and done that, they would have been escorted by security or maybe even arrested.”
Which Carrey interrupted: “He should have been.”
Addressing King’s refusal to press charges, Carrey said, “I would have announced this morning that I was suing Will for $200 million because this video will be around forever.”
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He added, “If you want to yell from the audience and show disapproval or say something on Twitter, you don’t have the right to go on stage and slap someone in the face for saying words.”
King then suggested the incident had “escalated,” prompting Carrey to interject, “It didn’t escalate, it came out of nowhere because of something frustrating going on inside Will.
“I have nothing against Will Smith. He has done great things. But that wasn’t a good moment. It cast a shadow over everyone’s bright moment.”
Although Smith has not yet been sentenced, the academy has said it may discipline him over the incident.
Smith has since apologized to Rock, but the comedian has yet to publicly accept it.
The full list of 2022 Oscar winners can be found here. Get the latest updates and reactions from the dramatic ceremony here, and read about the key talking points here.