The ‘slap heard ’round the world’ went down while Amy Schumer hosted the Oscars. Now, the comedian says the violent confrontation between Will Smith and Chris Rock left her with a ‘sickening feeling.’
Days after Will Smith slapped the taste out of Chris Rock at the 94th Academy Awards for making a joke at Jada Pinkett-Smith‘s expense, Amy Schumer is still dealing with lingering feelings from the incident. As one of the Oscars’ hosts, Amy, 40, had the task of trying to make everyone laugh after the awkward interaction. While she successfully defused the tension in the Dolby Theatre with a joke, Amy said she’s still going through what went down. “I think we can all agree that the best way to unpack what happened is to stream my series @lifeandbethhulu and see me on tour this fall,” Amy posted on Mar. 30. “But for real. Still triggered and traumatized.”
“I love my friend [Chris, 57] and believe he handled it like a pro. Stayed up there and gave an Oscar to his friend [Questlove] and the whole thing was so disturbing. So much pain in [Will, 53]. Anyway, I’m still in shock and stunned, and sad. I’m proud of myself and my cohosts. But yeah. Waiting for this sickening feeling to go away from what we all witnessed.”
Amy seemingly drew the short straw between her fellow cohosts – Wanda Sykes and Regina Hall – when it came to going out on stage following Will and Chris’s incident. “I’ve been getting out of the Spider-Man costume,” Amy said, referring to an earlier skit where she, Wanda, 58, and Regina, 51, dressed up as characters from some of the year’s biggest movies. “Did I miss anything?” joked Amy, playing dumb about what had gone down. “There’s, like, a different vibe in here. Probably not… well anyway.” ‘
Since the slap – and Will shouting at Chris to “keep my wife’s name out your f-cking mouth” – everyone has weighed in on the incident. Nicki Minaj defended Will for standing up for his wife. Jim Carrey called the Oscars audience “spineless” for applauding Will after winning the Best Actor award. 50 Cent laughed at how Will “slap[ped] the sh-t out of Chris” while also giving props to Chris for not pressing charges. Sonny Hostin was “horrified” by the “childish” behavior, and Zoe Kravitz threw shade on the whole affair.
A day after the Oscars, Will publicly apologized to Chris. “I was out of line, and I was wrong,” Will wrote. “I am embarrassed, and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.” Will said that while jokes about him are “part of the job,” he wouldn’t tolerate jokes about Jada’s autoimmune disorder. “[It] was too much for me to bear, and I reacted emotionally.”