Will Smith and Chris Rock's shocking exchange that was broadcasted throughout the entire globe has fueled hilarious commentary from the funniest hosts on late night television.
On the day after the Oscars, March 28, late night TV hosts like Stephen Colbert, James Corden and Jimmy Kimmel did not hold back from cracking jokes about the most talked about moment at the 2022 Oscars. The host of CBS' The Late Show started off his opening monologue by replaying the moment and offering his take on the situation. Colbert also provided "unseen footage" of Will Smith addressing the crowd before he won his Oscar for Best Actor.
"It's never ok to punch a comedian," Colbert said. "Will Smith was offended by the joke and wanted to stand up for his wife, fine. Challenge Chris to a duel, or if you really want to hurt a comedian, don't laugh. That hurts way more than a punch."
If there's one thing they all agree on, it's that Chris Rock can take a punch. While Colbert cracked jokes about the celebrity-on-celebrity violence, Corden, the host of The Late, Late Show, expressed his concern for Rock as well as the other moments that were overshadowed by the slap like Jason Mamoa's random on-stage belch and the translator for Best Foreign Film winner Ryusuke Hamaguchi who wasn't needed on stage.
Over at Jimmy Kimmel Live, Kimmel, who's hosted the Oscars in the past, emphasized the moment's popularity and said that we'll be talking about the slap "for the rest of our lives." He likened the shocking moment to the time when Mike Tyson bit off Evander Holyfield's ear during their fight in 1997. Kimmel also hilariously called out all the superheroes in the room, like The Amazing Spider-Man's Andrew Garfield and Aquaman's Jason Mamoa, for not doing anything to help stop Smith from slapping Rock.
Meanwhile, on The Tonight Show, Fallon decided not to directly comment on the moment as a courtesy to Questlove, who won the award for Best Documentary for Summer Of Soul right after the slap. However, he did mention something about the show that we can all agree with.
"You know it's a strange award show when it ends with a statement from the LAPD," Fallon said.