Chris Rock ‘should be proud’ of how he took Will Smith’s Oscars slap: Jimmy Kimmel

nypost.com:

Will Smith, 54, slapped 94th Academy Awards host Chris Rock, 58, after the comedian made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair — which Smith took as a jab at his 51-year-old wife’s struggle with alopecia.

The tone-deaf comment inspired the actor to hustle up to the Los Angeles Dolby Theatre stage and smack Rock in the face.“It’s still shocking that that happened,” the late-night talk show host told People. “To see something like that happen outside of like ‘The Maury Povich Show’ is shocking.

And then for it to happen on the Oscars magnifies it by about a million times.”He continued, “I think it’s something that everybody regrets and that we will move past.

One day it will be looked at in the same way as that guy running onstage naked is looked at: a weird moment that we all talked about and we hopefully learn from.”Kimmel shared that he hasn’t talked to Smith, but he has spoken to Rock — and he applauds the comedian for how he handled it.“I mean, to be slapped in the face and to stay that cool is something that Chris should be proud of,” Kimmel said. “Chris’s grandchildren, I hope, will still be proud of that when he’s dead and gone.”Smith has since apologized to Rock in an Instagram post, characterizing his actions as “unacceptable and inexcusable.” He furthermore announced his resignation from the Academy following the outburst, as the Academy in turn promised a formal disciplinary review.It was ultimately decided that Smith has been banned from appearing at the Oscars ceremony for 10 years following the incident.Smith recently poked fun at the 2022 incident in a TikTok video where he acts as though he’s about to ask his Academy Award for Best Actor — which he won for his role in “King Richard” during that fateful.