British comedian Ricky Gervais has hosted many awards shows in his time, and he’s finally speaking out on what may be the most infamous Oscars moment ever, which is Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at last week’s ceremony.
https://twitter.com/ElizabethKing/status/1511583500482318337
Gervais Sounds Off
During a live Q&A session on Twitter, Gervais hit back at people who are implying that Chris Rock got what he deserved for joking about Jada Pinkett Smith’s alopecia, which has caused her to lose her hair and go bald.
Though some on social media have claimed that alopecia is a “disability,” Gervais was not having any of it.
“Someone said it was joking about her [Jada’s] disability. Well I’m going a bit thin, so I’m disabled. That means I can park right up next to Tescos now,” Gervais said, according to Daily Mail.
“And I’m fat, that’s a disease. I’m fat and balding, I should get f***ing benefits,” he added with a laugh.
Not stopping there, Gervais went on to slam Will Smith for hitting Chris Rock over this joke, which he insisted “wasn’t bad.”
“You don’t hit people over a joke, however bad it is. And it wasn’t bad!” Gervais said. “That was like the tamest joke I would ever have told.”
Related: Ricky Gervais Obliterates Cancel Culture – Perfectly Compares It To ‘Road Rage’
Gervais Reveals What He Would Have Done
Gervais also talked about the slap while testing out new comedy material at the London’s Highgate this week.
“I’ll get it out of the way. I have not got any Will Smith material. I trended when that happened and I was not even there,” Gervais told the audience.
“What has it got to do with me? People were going ‘What would have happened if Ricky Gervais had been doing it (hosting Oscars)?'” he continued. “Well, nothing as I would not have made a joke about his wife’s hair. I would have made a joke about her boyfriend.”
Gervais was referring to the fact that Jada has admitted to having an affair with August Alsina, 29, who is a friend of her and Smith’s son Jaden.
Jada confirmed in 2020 that she and Alsina were in what she described as an “entanglement.”
Will Smith SMACKS Chris Rock on LIVE TV 😳😯#AcademyAwards2022 #willsmithchrisrock #WillAndChris #WillSmith #willsmithoscars #ChrisRock #willsmithsmack #chrisrocksmack #smack #JadaPinkettSmith pic.twitter.com/Hype2pGvPp
— Kemit Price (@IAMKemit) March 28, 2022
Related: Will Smith Terrified Of Being ‘Fully Canceled’ For Oscars Slap – ‘Biggest Fear’
Smith Resigns From Academy
Smith resigned from the Academy in disgrace at the end of last week over the slap.
The Academy will be meeting on April 18 to decide how to reprimand Smith for what he did. And, it’s possible that he could be stripped of the Oscar that he won minutes after the slap for his work in King Richard.
When hosting awards shows, Gervais was known for poking fun at celebrities while also calling them out on their nonsense.
After what happened this year, the Academy might want to consider having Ricky Gervais on hand to host the Oscars next year!