CNN’s Sara Sidner Condemns the Will Smith Discourse: ‘A Little Embarrassed’ Discussing This While Ukraine’s ‘Being Bombed’

CNN correspondent Sara Sidner criticized the public attention being placed on actor Will Smith over slapping comedian Chris Rock on Sunday during the Oscars.

Smith went onto the stage and slapped Rock after the latter made a joke about the former’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. That moment went viral.

Appearing on Monday’s New Day, Sidner had a message for Smith: “Use your words, Will.”

“You are an actor, you are a rapper, you have people things that write things for you. You’re a smart guy. Use your words, not your fists or your hands. It’s that simple,” she continued. “I think you sat there and watched that, and I think everybody was shocked only because they thought it was part of the skit at first.”

Sidner noted that Smith “was laughing at first until Jada clearly wasn’t, rolled her eyes and then he gets up and goes and does this. But it really took away so much from everybody that was there and from the moment.”

Nonetheless, Sidner criticized the coverage of the incident for which Smith later apologized, though he didn’t mention Rock by name.

I have to be honest, I’m a little embarrassed that I’m even talking about this right now. We’ve got inflation that is crushing families. We have millions of refugees who are running for their lives trying to find refuge, mothers and children, and we’ve got Ukraine which is literally on fire and being bombed. This was a moment that did not need to happen. And now it’s trending on Twitter instead of a thousand other things that are far more important. So that’s where I stand on this. Watching that was really, really disheartening and disappointing.

Watch above, via CNN.