O.J. Simpson Defends Will Smith Slapping Chris Rock At Oscars – ‘I Understood The Feeling’

O.J. Simpson is the latest celebrity to weigh in on Will Smith hitting Chris Rock at the Oscars on Sunday night. It may come as no surprise to you to learn that Simpson, who many feel got away with murder in the 1990s, is defending Smith.

Backstory: Internet Erupts After Will Smith Slaps Chris Rock At The Oscars

‘I Understood The Feeling’

“Look, I understood the feeling,” Simpson said in a video posted to Twitter on Tuesday. 

“In my life, I’ve been through a lot of crap when I was raising two young kids and every comedian in the country had an O.J. routine, and don’t think I wouldn’t want to [b**ch] slap a couple of them, but you got to accept that it’s human,” he added. 

While Simpson expressed sympathy for Smith, he still felt it was “wrong” to assault a comedian over a “semi un-funny joke.”

“Hey, look, it was unfortunate,” Simpson said. “I think Will was wrong.”

Simpson, 74, also said in this video that if he had done what Smith did, he’d be in prison. 

“If I would have done that in front of a billion people watching around the world, they would have given me life without [parole], I’m just saying,” he said. 

Related: Devout Christian Denzel Washington Had Wise Words For Will Smith At The Oscars

Simpson’s History

Many believe that  O.J. Simpson got away with the 1994 murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. In 1994, he was acquitted for the murders. However, he was later found liable for their deaths in a civil case in California ordering him to pay $33.5 million to the families of the victims.

Years later, he was convicted of armed robbery and kidnapping in Las Vegas while trying to regain what he claimed was memorabilia that belonged to him. He was sentenced to 33 years in prison. He was released on parole on October 1, 2017. 

“Mr. Simpson is a completely free man now,” his lawyer said at the time. 

Daily Mail reported that Smith smacked Rock on live television on Sunday after he made a joke comparing his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, who is bald, to the character “G.I. Jane.” The Academy is set to meet today to decide whether or not to strip Smith of the Oscar that he won later in the night for his work in King Richard.

Joe Rogan Weighs In

The podcast giant Joe Rogan has also weighed in on Smith slapping Chris Rock. Rogan believes that he only got away with doing so because of his famous name. 

“It’s a rare instance that someone so enormously famous and successful like Will Smith that they literally still allowed him to not just win the Academy Award, but also go up and accept it and give a speech after he assaulted a small comedian on stage,” Rogan said on Tuesday.

“It sets a terrible precedent in so many different ways,” he added. “It sets a terrible precedent for comedy clubs. Like, are people going to decide to go on stage and smack a comedian now.”

It will certainly be interesting to see if the Academy decides to punish Will Smith today. 

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