Wanda Sykes Tells Ellen She Was Sickened By Will Smith's Actions At The Oscars Then Shares The Candid Apology From Chris Rock
For an Oscars ceremony with three women as the hosts, we sure are seeing a lot of pictures of Chris Rock up on that stage in the headlines.
At this point, it seems like everybody has taken a position on The Oscars Slap. Jim Carrey thought it was horrific. Zoe Kravitz is apparently over it. Jada Pinkett-Smith appears to simply wish we could move on. Even Will Smith himself has spoken out to apologize.
The one person directly involved with The Slap who we still haven't heard from is Chris Rock - even though many are calling for him to officially apologize for makeing a joke about Pinkett's alopecia. But Wanda Sykes apparently did actually hear from him, after the ceremony was over.
Sykes went on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Wednesday to discuss her time as 1/3 of the Oscar-hosting team (the other 2/3 being Amy Schumer and Regina Hall), and she told Ellen that Chris Rock actually personally apologized to her.
"We worked really hard to put that show together...I hope he doesn't mind me saying this, but I saw Chris at the after party, and as soon as I walked up to him, the first thing he said is, 'I'm so sorry.'
"I was like, 'Why are you apologizing?'
"He was like, 'It was supposed to be your night. You and Amy and Regina were doing such a great job. I'm so sorry this is now gonna be about this. Because that's who Chris is."
As for her own reaction, Sykes didn't see the actual altercation take place - she had been backstage changing costumes for a bit. She happened to catch the monitor right after it happened, as Smith was returning to his seat - but the damage had been done either way.
"It was sickening. It was absolutely- I physically felt ill, and I'm still a little traumatized by it. And for them to let [Will] stay in that room and enjoy the rest of the show and accept his award, I was like, 'How gross is this?' This sends the wrong message. If you assault somebody, you get escorted out the building and that's it. But for them to let him continue, I thought it was gross."
"I wanted to be able to run out after he won and be like, 'Uhh, Will couldn't be here tonight...'"
The further we get from this altercation, the worse Will Smith is starting to look.
