RTE’s Ryan Tubridy has weighed in on Sunday night’s Academy Awards controversy after actor Will Smith stormed the stage and slapped host Chris Rock.
Smith had taken offence to a gag made about his wife regarding her buzzcut hairstyle after she had previously spoken out about her struggles with alopecia.
Rock appeared to look bewildered after the slap, which many believed to be a bit before Smith returned to his seat and shouted: "Keep my wife's name out of your… mouth."
READ MORE: Oscars award show sent into chaos as Will Smith storms stage to hit Chris Rock after gag about wife
Speaking on his RTE Radio 1 show on Monday, Ryan told listeners: “I’m still trying to get my head around what happened at the Oscars last night. It was bonkers.
“If you haven’t seen it, it's probably worth having a look... but as you know Chris Rock the presenter seems to have, well no, he said it was a gag, and they’re pretty vicious those gags at the top of the, not so much the Oscars, but did you ever see Ricky Gervais for example, at the Golden Globes? He’s vicious.
“The Oscars are much tidier, neater, certainly politically correct affair, and Chris Rock did his bit and Will Smith, from what I can gather, he went up and essentially slapped him across the face.
“I’ve never seen anything like it. So all the talk of Covid is over, and the Oscars are back counts for nothing really in the coverage today because it's all about that.”
He added: “In fairness, Chris Rock isn’t exactly in hospital nursing injuries, but it had thrown the whole thing up into disarray.
“So now we are meant to be talking about the great movies and the acting and everything else in between, but no, we are talking about this mad incident.”
Ryan then told of his disappointment after Smith went on to win the award for best actor.
He said: “Then Will Smith goes on to win the thing. He won the Oscar then for best actor in a film called King Richard about the Williams sisters. He plays their dad.
“I haven’t seen the film. I don't know if it’s any good, but it’s obviously good enough for him because he won it.
“I was disappointed because I thought Benedict Cumberbatch deserved it for Power of the Dog.”
Ryan said the slap was 'remarkable' and explained how the hit completely caught Rock off guard.
He said: “That punch, that slap is remarkable. I think Chris Rock thought it was a gag. It wasn't, and Will Smith seems to be, I mean you can decide for yourselves, was he off his rocker to do such a thing or was he defending his wife’s honour to people?... That's something to be discussed and will be.”
He added: “But already overnight, the LAPD has said that Chris Rock is not going to file a complaint against Will Smith so there won't be this kind of criminal, you know, I was assaulted by Will Smith and all that kind of thing.
“However, there is a suggestion in another paper overnight that he could lose, Will Smith could lose the oscar for breaching the Academy's code of conduct, which I presume has some commandments thou shall not slap host in the face or something like that.
“So we shall see, but he may be asked to hand it back."
READ MORE: Watch as Will Smith hits Chris Rock at the Oscars after Jada Pinkett Smith jibe
READ MORE: Will Smith son Jaden defends dad's Chris Rock smack after comic insulted his mum
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