Golden Globe Awards viewers slam host Jerrod Carmichael for 'cheap' Will Smith jibe

Viewers of this year's Golden Globe Awards were less than impressed by Jerrod Carmichael's joke about Will Smith.

Midway through the 80th annual ceremony in Los Angeles, the comedian made a skit about the actor following his slap on Chris Rock at last year's Oscars.

He commented that Will had received the Rock Hudson award during the ad break and asked for those in attendance to give him a round of applause.

The joke didn't seem to go down well at the Beverly Hilton Hotel - and it certainly didn't hit the mark with viewers at home.

Many took to Twitter to complain about the attempt to be funny. One user slammed: "Did I mishear that or did they just cheap a** joke demean Rock Hudson and Will Smith after the heartfelt LGBTQIA boosting by Ryan Murphy. #goldenglobes"

Golden Globes viewers weren't impressed by Jerrod Carmichael's Will Smith joke (NBC via Getty Images)

Another added: "What a weird joke to make about Will Smith - that wasn't a display of masculinity unless you put toxic in front of it. #GoldenGlobes2023"

A third said: "Will smith jokes in 2023? oh my god loserrr. booo," with a fourth agreeing: "A Will Smith joke in 2023 is wack and corny. #GoldenGlobes"

The comments continued to flow in in the aftermath, with another user complaining: "The Will Smith/ Rock Hudson joke even from a gay man is not good #goldenglobes"

Jerrod joked about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock (Getty Images)

However, despite the overall negativity, some users defended the skit, with one tweet reading: "The Will Smith joke was fire #GoldenGlobes"

From the beginning, Jerrod, 35, had made it clear he was going to take aim at people throughout the night and continued his controversial skits throughout the ceremony.

His opening monologue saw him hit out at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as he became the first black person to host the Golden Globes.

Jerrod was the first black presenter of the ceremony (NBC via Getty Images)

The comedian jibed that the only reason he was tasked with hosting the event was because he was black.

He said: " I'll tell you why I'm here. I'm here because I'm black. I’ll catch everyone in the room. The Golden Globe Awards did not air last year because the HFPA — which, I won’t say they were a racist organisation, but they didn’t have a single Black member until George Floyd died, so do with that information what you will…"

*Follow Mirror Celebs on Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter and Facebook .