Yes, you guessed it: Saturday Night Live did a sketch of Will Smith’s infamous Oscar smack of Chris Rock.
In the sketch – which you can see above – at this year’s Oscars, host Jerrod Carmichael plays a seat holder who happens to get a seat right next to Will Smith, played by Chris Redd. At first, the seat filler was excited to be sitting next to a big star like Smith… but then Rock made jokes about Jada and Smith stormed onto the stage to smack him. Smith walked back to his seat and nonchalantly asked the seat filler, “So, where are you from?” He continued to maintain a polite conversation while yelling at Rock, “Keep my wife’s name out of your damn mouth!” as the seat filler’s phone rings, his ringtone is “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It,” and Smith happily dances along, “Everything’s normal, y’all!”
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Carmichael also addressed the slap in his opening monologue: “Can you believe it’s been six days? … Doesn’t it feel like it’s been years? Doesn’t it feel like it happened when we were all in high school? It feels like it happened somewhere between Jamiroquai and 9/11.” Donald Trump also addressed James Austin Johnson’s slap in the cold, calling Smith a “hitch”: “I saw a slap. I enjoyed batting. I was very impressed with my hitch.”
In case you missed it, at last Sunday’s Academy Awards, Rock presented the award for best documentary when he cracked a joke at Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith’s expense. Smith took the stage and pounded on Rock. “Wow, Will Smith just blew me away,” Rock said. Then Smith, who had returned to his seat, yelled from the audience, “Keep my wife’s name out of your damn mouth,” repeating it after Rock protested that the dig had been just a joke.
Later in the ceremony, Smith won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Richard of Venus and Serena Williams’ father in the film King Richard. Smith addressed the incident (albeit indirectly) in his acceptance speech, apologizing to the Academy and his fellow contestants — though specifically not to Rock.
Smith has since apologized to Rock in a statement on Instagram, saying, “My behavior at the Oscars last night was unacceptable and inexcusable… I was out of line and I was wrong.” He also resigned from the after the incident Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, although he could face further punishment from the Academy. Jada Pinkett Smith issued her own cryptic statement on Tuesday, simply saying, “This is a season of healing and I’m here for it.”
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