Grammys 2022: Trevor Noah during the show. (Image courtesy: AFP)
highlights
- “It’s a concert where we give out awards,” said Trevor Noah
- “So let’s get on with it,” he added
- “We’ll be giving out awards throughout the night,” he said
New Delhi:
Just a week after last week’s controversial Academy Awards, comedian Trevor Noah opened the 64th Annual Grammy Awards on Monday, making one thing very clear: “Don’t even think of this as an awards show,” referring to the infamous Will Smith-Chris Rock Slapgate at the Academy Awards. Trevor Noah, who also hosted the Grammys last year, said: “It’s a concert where we’re giving out awards, we’re going to listen to music, we’re going to dance, we’re going to sing, we’re going to keep people’s names out of our mouths and we’re going to give people the whole.” Awards presented overnight.
Flashback to last Sunday when Chris Rock appeared on the Oscars stage to present the award for Best Documentary where he made a joke about Will Smith’s wife and actress Jada Pinkett Smith because of her shaved head in GI Jane co-starred, which sparked the The Pursuit of Happyness actor punching Chris Rock and returning to his seat yelling, “Keep my wife’s name out of your friggin’ mouth.” Later, when he received the best actor trophy, he apologized Join Will Smith at the Academy and other nominees.
Meanwhile, musician Questlove, who was on stage to present the Grammy for song of the year, said: “All right, I’m going to present this award and I trust you will stay 500 feet from me. As they say, giving is much better than receiving. Well I’m not so sure about that because last Sunday it felt pretty good to get.”
After attacking Chris Rock at the Oscars, Will Smith apologized to the comedian in an Instagram post, saying he was “embarrassed” about what he had done and an excerpt of his post read: ” I want to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I’m embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. In a world of love and kindness there is no place for violence.”
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences began a “formal review” of the situation early last week and has apologized to Chris Rock for the incident. “Mr. Rock, we apologize to you for what you have experienced on our stage and thank you for your resilience at this moment,” the Academy said in a statement, news agency AFP reported. It also said Will Smith had been asked to leave the Oscars after the slap and had refused – a claim that had been called into question.
Over the weekend, Will Smith resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; The academy said the resignation had been accepted