Whoopi Goldberg has been trying to defend the Academy, whose board she sits on, giving various reasons why she feels it’s justified that Will Smith was not removed from the Oscars following the smack. On Thursday, she debuted a brand new excuse on her ABC talk show “The View.”
It’s been nearly one week since Will Smith slapped Chris Rock onstage at the 93rd Academy Awards Oscars ceremony yet the world is still talking about it. Many remain outraged that Smith was not physically ejected from the ceremony after the slap, and was even permitted to accept the Oscar for best actor for his work in King Richard minutes later.
Backstory: Internet Erupts After Will Smith Slaps Chris Rock At The Oscars
Why wasn’t Will Smith removed from the theater immediately after the incident? https://t.co/otS9MouJxJ
— George Hahn (@georgehahn) March 28, 2022
Whoopi Goldberg Defends Academy Not Removing Will Smith
“I’m going to tell you why he got the option. Picture, well, OK, they come back from break, now if he’s in some sort of state and he’s struggling and they’re trying to get him out the door and it’s still on camera,” Goldberg said, suggesting that Smith was not removed because doing so would be difficult on live television.
“Listen, we work a live show every day and stuff happens and it comes out your mouth or you do something stupid and you’ve got to sit there and deal with it,” she added. “I can’t imagine what was going on. I wasn’t there. I can’t imagine what was going on back there, but I do know the only person anybody should be focusing on, in my opinion, is Will Smith.”
You can watch Goldberg’s comments in the tweeted video below.
CHRIS ROCK SAYS HE’S STILL “PROCESSING WHAT HAPPENED”: The comedian broke his silence on what happened between him and Will Smith at the #Oscars as the Academy says Smith refused to leave after the altercation – #TheView co-hosts and @TaraSetmayer react. https://t.co/e6mZPfg8Kd pic.twitter.com/AEG1jm7xIX
— The View (@TheView) March 31, 2022
This differs from comments that Whoopi Goldberg made earlier in the week, when she suggested that race was clearly a factor in Will Smith not being immediately removed from the event.
Full story: Whoopi Goldberg Says Race Is Real Reason Will Smith Wasn’t Removed From Oscars After Smacking Will Smith
In her quest to defend her beloved Academy, Goldberg seems to be all over the place!
Yes Will Smith just flipped out on Chris Rock for talking smack about Jaida during The #Oscars & I have uncensored video as evidence!pic.twitter.com/8JurYFOUxb
— Josh❤️ Dune 2 & Godzilla X Kong #BlackLivesMatter (@supermangeek101) March 28, 2022
Related: Academy Under Pressure To Release ‘Missing’ 3s Video Of Will And Jada Smith Just Before Oscars Smack
Whoopi Goldberg Sits On Academy’s Board
Though Goldberg’s co-hosts pointed out that she is a member of the Academy’s board of governors, she said she’s not allowed to speak on its behalf:
“I can’t because I’m not their spokesperson and everything they had to say they’ve said. But there are things that I do know. People said to me, ‘Well, you know, they were running over to greet him’ and someone else is saying, ‘Well, you know, everybody was checking to make sure he wasn’t having a manic moment,’ because that’s not what he’s known for, smacking people. So we’ll see what happens and that’s where I keep saying let us keep in mind that there’s one person responsible for this.”
This is FKCED UP pic.twitter.com/2Z8CZf6Nzd
— MichaelRapaport (@MichaelRapaport) March 30, 2022
Academy To Meet About Will Smith April 18
Fox News reported that the Academy’s board is set to meet on April 18 to decide how they will be reprimanding Smith, and Goldberg has previously said that there will be “big consequences” for what he did. It remains a possibility that Smith will even be stripped of his Oscar for this slap that was heard around the world.
“Mr. Smith’s actions at the 94th Oscars were a deeply shocking, traumatic event to witness in-person and on television,” the Academy said. “Mr. Rock, we apologize to you for what you experienced on our stage, and thank you for your resilience in that moment. We also apologize to our nominees, guests and viewers for what transpired during what should have been a celebratory event.”
We will eagerly be waiting to see how the Academy decides to punish Smith later this month. Here’s hoping that they throw the book at him and send the message that violence in any form is never okay.
We also can’t wait to see what Goldberg’s latest defense of the Academy is on today’s episode of “The View.”