Jay Leno weighed in on the incident at last month’s Oscars, when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock onstage after the comedian made a GI Jane joke about the appearance of Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith, who is known to have alopecia suffers.
The comedian and former Tonight Show host, 71, called Smith a “good guy” while explaining the most troubling part of the whole ordeal for him.
“For me what was most disturbing wasn’t the slap because he kind of grinned after he slapped [Rock]Leno told the Palm Beach Daily News on Friday ahead of his standup show this weekend at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach.
“It was the shouting of obscenities. Then you say, ‘Whoa. What’s going on here?’ This is real anger.”
Leno also considered the aftermath of the slap, which included the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, which — after expressing anger and outrage — launched a formal investigation into the incident that appears to take weeks to complete.
Speaking to the outlet, Leno asked, “What are you investigating?” He added, “It had to be the most recorded attack in history. I saw the back of his shoe, I saw Chris’ ear. There were so many cameras on this incident. What are you investigating? I know sometimes things are exactly what they seem.”
Smith, who apologized during his Best Actor Oscar win for King Richard and subsequently directly to Rock for his behavior to Academy members and other nominees, announced his departure from the Academy on the 1st “painful and inexcusable” acts in a letter the organization.
Shortly thereafter, the Academy Board ruled that Smith would be barred from attending the Academy Awards or any other Academy event for 10 years. He gets to keep the Oscar he received for his performance in King Richard and will still be eligible for future nominations and wins.