It’s been about three months since the Academy Awards, but celebrities are still talking about how Will Smith slapped Chris Rock, including Tyler Perry, who is friends with both comedians. During the 2022 Oscars, Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s baldness, due to her alopecia diagnosis. Rock presented the award for best documentary before he received a slap from Smith on stage.
Immediately after the incident, Perry was seen conversing with Smith inside the Dolby Theatre. Earlier this week, Perry discussed that conversation while speaking with Gayle King during New York City’s Tribeca Festival.
“I left early to go and check on Chris because it was wrong in no uncertain terms,” Perry said according to Entertainment Tonight and Variety. “I made sure I said that to Will, and when we walked over to him, he was devastated. He couldn’t believe what happened.”
Photos taken at the awards show capture Perry in conversation with Smith. Tuesday, during his talk, King asked the director if he was consoling Smith. “There’s a difference between comforting and de-escalating,” said Perry. “Being friends with both of them, it’s been very difficult.”
Various hosts and actresses have commented on the Academy Awards Slap incident since it occurred including Wanda Sykes, who called it gross, and Amy Schumer, who says she was traumatized by the incident. The day after Oscar night, Smith apologized for his behavior and expressed that it was unacceptable and inexcusable.
On the June 1 episode of Red Table Talk, Jada Pinkett Smith spoke for the first time about the current situation.
“My deepest hope is that these two intelligent, capable men have an opportunity to heal, talk this out and reconcile. The state of the world today, we need them both and we all actually need one another more than ever,” she said during the episode.
” ‘Til then, Will and I are continuing to do what we have done for the last 28 years and that’s to keep figuring out this thing called life together,” she added.
However, even though he won that night’s best actor award for his role in King Richard, the Academy Award’s Board of Governors forbid Smith from attending Academy events, including the Oscars, for the next 10 years.
