It seems like every passing day another surprising detail emerges about the now-infamous "slap heard 'round the world" that occurred at Sunday night's Oscars when Will Smith hit Chris Rock for making a joke about Jada Pinkett-Smith's hair.
The newest glimpse into the chaos comes from comedian Wanda Sykes, one of the show's co-hosts along with Regina Hall and Amy Schumer.
Sykes gave her account of the night during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show Wednesday, and revealed while Chris Rock apologized to her after the slap, Will Smith has said nothing.
See the segment below.
Talking with DeGeneres, Sykes said when she saw Rock at one of the after-parties, he immediately apologized.
"[T]he first thing he said was: ‘I’m so sorry.'"
"And I’m like, ‘Why are you apologizing?' And he’s like, 'It was supposed to be your night. You and Amy and Regina, y’all were doing such a great job. I’m so sorry. This is now going to be about this.'"
Sykes went on to criticize Smith, whom she feels owes not just her, but also Hall and Schumer an apology.
"We were the hosts, right?... [W]e're gonna take care of y'all tonight, and make sure you have a good time. And no one has apologized to us."
"And we worked really hard to put that show together... What the hell is this?"
Sykes also described how disturbing it was to witness the slap firsthand, calling the incident "sickening" and saying she is still "a little traumatized by it."
She also criticized the producers of the show and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which administers the Oscars, for allowing Smith to remain at the ceremony.
"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?'"
"...You assault somebody you get escorted out the building and that's it."
On Twitter, many people agreed with Sykes and applauded her for speaking out.
Yes. Agreed. Why wasn't he escorted out in handcuffs. I lost all respect for Will Smith in that moment. There were so many better ways to handle that. That was the very worst way.— red avenger\u2600\ufe0f\ud83d\udcab (@red avenger\u2600\ufe0f\ud83d\udcab) 1648679186
Kudos to comedians Michael Che, Jim Carrey, and Wanda Sykes, all of whom have described their disgust at the attack on Chris Rock, while troglodytes on Twitter promote toxic masculinity and justify violence as they paint Will Smith as a knight defending his helpless wife\u2019s honor.— Dr. David A. Lustig (@Dr. David A. Lustig) 1648743241
If Wanda Sykes had made the same joke, would Will Smith slap her? And if he did, would people be defending him the way they are for slapping Chris Rock? Smith should have been tossed out on his ass - and charged with assault and battery. #IStandWithChrisRock— Mike Patrick (@Mike Patrick) 1648485945
Why do people think it was an insult, GI Jane was beautiful and Jada is too.pic.twitter.com/5zQcphpNYr— \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udd98\ud83d\uddfdtheRoofdiva\ud83d\uddfd\ud83c\udd98\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udd98\ud83d\uddfdtheRoofdiva\ud83d\uddfd\ud83c\udd98\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1648680714
SAME. It was grotesque to let Will Smith stay and accept the award to a STANDING OVATION. Absolutely horrific.— \ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0aAnthony Spina\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a (@\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0aAnthony Spina\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a) 1648669702
But like seemingly any discussion of this event, her perspective also seemed to only deepen the online debate about the incident.
The same can be said for making fun of someone's illness. \n\nUnderstand that I'm not defending Will's actions I'm responding to Wanda's remarks...\n\nWe can no longer make fun of illnesses whether they be physical or mental unless it's your own situation. \n\nYes Chris went to far!— Will's two cents (@Will's two cents) 1648677891
\u201cinvited you in\u201d?????? \n\nthere is not one universe where Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes could be the ones INVITING Will Smith to the ACADEMY AWARDS.https://twitter.com/popcrave/status/1509242912395038724\u00a0\u2026— caliphornia QING (@caliphornia QING) 1648666872
Not Wanda Sykes talking about she was traumatized from the slap. At this point y\u2019all mfs is trying to get clout off this shit cus ain\u2019t no damn way!— Klare (@Klare) 1648667502
Was it OK for Chris Rock to disrespect a strong woman?— Mona Khanna (@Mona Khanna) 1648678354
Now Wanda Sykes claims she was traumatized from this #oscars incident. Give me a freakin break— Taurean Reign Reloaded (@Taurean Reign Reloaded) 1648679835
Sykes' fellow co-host Amy Schumer also weighed in on the incident on Wednesday, calling it "disturbing" and "sickening" in a since-deleted Instagram post.
