Jimmy Kimmel Blasts Will Smith for Laughing at ‘G.I. Jane’ Joke Before Slapping Chris Rock Across the Face

Jimmy Kimmel addressed the slap heard around the world on Monday night, calling out Will Smith for laughing at Chris Rock’s joke before smacking him across the face.

Kimmel opened the show by asking his audience if anyone had somehow missed the most talked-about moment from this year’s Oscar ceremony, playing the clip of Smith slapping Rock just in case anybody had.

“We will never stop talking about this. It was so shocking. The only thing I can really compare it to is when Mike Tyson bit Evander Holyfield’s ears,” he said. “Even [Kanye West] was like, ‘You went on stage and did what at an awards show?’”

The host went on to point out the “weirdest part” of the incident, noting that Smith laughed at Rock’s joke — which poked fun at Jada Pinkett Smith’s alopecia diagnosis — before getting on stage and slapping him.

“But then he must have looked over and noticed that Jada was not amused and was like, ‘Uh oh, I better do something,’ and boy did he do something,” Kimmel said, adding, “No one could have predicted that the most controversial movie of 2022 would be G.I. Jane, but it was.”

The host called the moment the Hollywood version of “your drunk uncle starting a fight, ruining the wedding, and then standing up and giving a long toast to the bride and groom,” referring to Smith’s subsequent Best Actor acceptance speech. 

Kimmel then praised Rock for handling the moment well, noting that the stand-up comedian still managed to read the nominees for Best Documentary Feature, “as if he hadn’t just been slapped by the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”

The host also highlighted that Questlove’s Summer of Soul had won the award, a moment that was tainted by the shocking slap.

“And by the way, no one did anything. A whole roomful of people, no one lifted a finger,” he added. “Spider-Man was there, Aquaman was there, Catwoman, all sitting on their hands. No one helped Chris Rock.”

The host went on to lament the fact that he has now only hosted the “second craziest Oscars of all time,” referring to the 2017 ceremony in which Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway announced the wrong winner for Best Picture.

“Obviously, Chris Rock did not deserve to be slapped in the face for a joke,” he continued. “Will’s point of view is he was defending his wife, and that’s a tough position to be in because it’s damned if you do, Ted Cruz if you don’t.”

Watch above, via ABC.