''It’s appalling arrogance': Steve Coogan on Will Smith’s Oscars slap

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Steve Coogan has shared his thoughts about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars, describing the incident as 'appalling arrogance.' The Middleton-born film and TV actor and comedian said the altercation was the 'epitome of all that’s twisted and horrible about Hollywood' in a conversation on BBC's Loose Ends show.

Will Smith struck comedian Chris on stage after he made a comment about Will’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith's hair loss, which is a result of the actress suffering from alopecia.

Will later apologised to the Academy when he picked up the Best Actor Award for his role in King Richard. He apologised to the comedian in a statement released the following day and on Saturday it was announced that the Hollywood star had resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. READ MORE: Emily Atack reveals popstar dad's musical background with Beyonce link Host Clive Anderson asked Steve if he had ever encountered something similar. “First of all, I thought Hollywood showed itself at its absolute worst," he said. "For all the kind of moral posturing that Hollywood has… I think all Hollywood’s moral posturing are always commercial decisions and if they’re moral, they’re dressed up as moral but they are always bottomline decisions." Steve admitted he agreed with actors Rob Reiner and Jim Carrey who had both publicly condemned Will's actions. “I think whether Chris Rock wants to press charges should be academic.

In this country it's rather different," he said. "I think it’s appalling arrogance. The epitome of all that’s twisted and horrible about Hollywood.