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Oscars co-host Wanda Sykes on Will Smith’s altercation with Chris Rock: It was sickening
Wanda Sykes has become the latest star to weigh in on the Oscars slap that stunned the world.
Wanda Sykes, Oscars co-host, criticized the Academy, calling their conduct 'gross' for allowing Will Smith to stay in the auditorium after slapping Chris Rock, a behaviour that made her feel 'physically ill.' "It was sickening," Sykes said in a televised interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, as per Daily Mail.
She further said, "I felt physically ill and I'm still a little traumatized by it." Smith, 53, surprised the Dolby Theatre crowd and millions of television viewers on Sunday night's Oscars when he marched onto the stage and slapped Rock, 57 after the comedian made a bald joke about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, who has openly talked about losing her hair due to alopecia. Interestingly, Smith won Best Actor for his depiction of Richard Williams, the father of tennis champions Serena and Venus Williams, less than an hour later.
However, Sykes told Ellen that the slap occurred as she was walking back to the theatre from her trailer. She said "when I got to the monitor backstage, I just saw Will leaving the stage, and everything was quiet. And I was like, 'What happened, what happened?!'" Sykes went on to say that seeing the video replay made her sick. And she was taken aback when Smith was permitted to remain in the auditorium to get his Oscar and see the remainder of the event.
During the interview, Sykes said that Smith should have been removed from the premises immediately after slapping Rock. "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?" she said. Meanwhile, Sykes, who co-hosted the show with Amy Schumer and Regina Hall on Sunday night, said she knows Smith apologised to Rock, but 'no one has apologised to us.' Sykes claimed to have received an apology from the one person she said did not owe her one. She added that she bumped into Rock that night at a party, and he said, 'I'm so sorry!'
Her remarks came just hours after her co-host Amy Schumer spoke about the event, claiming she is "still triggered and traumatised" by the "disturbing" incident.
ALSO READ: Oscars 2022: Amy Schumer, Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes’ best hosting moments from the ceremony
