Wanda Sykes has slapped down hosting the Oscars a second time after Will Smith smacked Chris Rock live on stage during the 94th Academy Awards. The infamous incident happened when Smith, who would go on to win his first Best Actor Oscar for his role in King Richard, stormed the stage and struck the comedian for cracking a joke about wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head. In an appearance on Live with Kelly and Ryan, Sykes told Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest she’s not interested in serving as emcee a second time after the “shocking” slap that occurred during this year’s ceremony.
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“Oh, hell no,” The Upshaws star said when asked if she would return as Oscars host. “I shouldn’t say it like that. You know what, it was an amazing honor and I think it’s something that you want to do. You do it once… I don’t know if I would want to do it again. It’s a huge job, and it took a lot of people to clean me up.”
Sykes, who co-hosted with Amy Schumer and Regina Hall, was not on stage when Rock made his “G.I. Jane 2” joke about Pinkett Smith while guest-presenting the award for best documentary. Like many viewers watching live, Sykes was “shocked” when Smith struck Rock before yelling from the audience: “Keep my wife’s name out of your f—ing mouth.”
“It was just like, what is happening? It was just shock,” she said. “Couldn’t believe it. Shocked. And then it was like… ‘okay, so everybody’s going to just sit here?’”
In March, the veteran comedian said she was “traumatized” over the March 27 incident between Smith and Rock.
“I just felt so awful for my friend Chris. And it was sickening, absolutely sickening,” Sykes said on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. “I physically felt ill, and I’m still a little traumatized by it.”
Sykes added, “And for them to let him stay in that room and enjoy the rest of the show and accept his award, I was like, ‘How gross is this? This is just the wrong message.’”
Smith issued an apology on Instagram, calling his behavior “unacceptable and inexcusable.” While the Bad Boys star extended his public apology to Oscars producers and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — as well as the family of Venus and Serena Williams, whose story inspired King Richard — Sykes criticized Smith for not including the three co-hosts in the statement.
“I know he apologized to Chris, but I believe that, you know, we were the hosts,” Sykes said. “This was our house, we invited you in, we were gonna take care of you all and make sure you had a good time. And no one has apologized to us. And we worked really hard to put that show together. The industry itself, I’m like, ‘What the hell is this?’”
Smith subsequently resigned from the Academy and was later banned from the Oscars until 2032. While Smith is still eligible to receive Oscar nominations and win awards, the Academy’s Board of Governors decided the actor will not be allowed to attend “any Academy events or programs, in person or virtually, including but not limited to the Academy Awards.”
