BLABBERMOUTH.NET
TESTAMENT's
Alex Skolnick has condemned
Will Smith for smacking
Chris Rock at the 2022
Academy Awards.
The guitarist reacted a short time after
Smith, 53, interrupted the 57-year-old comedian's introduction of "Best Documentary" with a slap across the face. The altercation came after
Rock made a joke about
Smith's wife
Jada Pinkett Smith, saying, "
Jada, I love ya.
G.I. Jane 2, can't wait to see ya," an apparent reference to the actress's bald hairstyle as she lives with the autoimmune disorder alopecia, which attacks follicles resulting in bald spots and hair loss.
Pinkett Smith could be seen rolling her eyes, before the camera cut back to
Rock, while
Will Smith initially laughed from his seat. Shortly after, however,
Smith's mood changed as he walked up to
Rock and struck him across the face with an open hand.
"Oh wow,"
Rock said as
Smith made his way back to his seat.
"
Will Smith just smacked the shit out of me," the host said.
"Keep my wife's name out your fucking mouth!"
Smith yelled up to the stage at
Rock after taking his seat again.
"Wow, dude, it was a
G.I. Jane joke," said
Rock — to which
Smith replied once again, "Keep my wife's name out your fucking mouth!"
Later in the night,
Smith won the "Best Actor" award for his starring role in
"King Richard". He addressed incident in his acceptance speech by apologizing to the
Academy and his fellow actors for the altercation but failing to mention
Rock by name.
"I want to apologize to the
Academy. I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees,"
Smith said in part.
He added: "Art imitates life: I look like the crazy father. Just like they said about
Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things."
Last night,
Skolnick shared a clip of the incident on
Twitter and wrote: "I missed #Oscars2022 & a whole lot apparently. Quick thought: Wasn't he the 'nice' rapper? Meanwhile 'scary' rappers have great senses of humor, ie
IceT &
Snoop (his IG is LOL FUNNY). C'mon #WillSmith. You don't have to like #ChrisRock 's joke but an ugly meltdown? Violence? Wtf?"
Earlier today,
Skolnick returned to hsi
Twitter and added the following comment: "#WillSmith's overreaction at the #Oscars stole the spotlight from @questlove, #SummerOfSoul & even #KingRichard (for which he won!) There are better ways to express displeasure. Just when it finally gets past #OscarsSoWhite, he turns it into #OscarsYoFight #willsmithchrisrock".
