If you forgot that Wanda Sykes hosted the Oscars in 2022, well, you wouldn’t be the only one.
When the job, which is usually seen as a career highlight for a comedian, was brought up to Sykes in a new interview with Variety, she said, “I forgot about that.”
As the outlet pointed out, her work — and that of her cohosts Amy Schumer and Regina Hall — “got overshadowed” when eventual Best Actor winner Will Smith slapped Chris Rock onstage. Sykes once said Smith never apologized to her for the slap heard ’round the world, but she now has an update.
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“He did. He called,” she told the outlet of Smith when asked if he ever ended up reaching out. “I had COVID or a bad cold. I just texted to say, ‘Hey, I got your message. Thank you. I can’t talk.’ But he did call.”
During the Oscars telecast that year, Rock made a joke while presenting onstage alluding to the appearance of Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, who has alopecia, a medical condition that causes hair loss. Smith reacted to Rock’s joke by walking up to him onstage and striking him in the face, then returning to his seat and yelling, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f—ing mouth.”
Less than an hour after the incident, Smith won Best Actor for his performance in King Richard as Richard Williams, the father of tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams. The following day, Smith issued a public apology, writing in a statement posted to his Instagram, in part, “Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behavior at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally.”
Rock declined to press charges, but the Academy did begin a formal review into the incident. Ultimately, Smith voluntarily resigned from the Academy, and the organization banned him from attending the Oscars or any other Academy event for 10 years.
When asked by Variety whether all of this soured Sykes’ memory of the night or whether she is still able to see it as an achievement, she said, “I mean, I loved working with Regina [Hall] and Amy [Schumer]. But like you said, it got overshadowed. People talk to me about that night without even mentioning, ‘Oh yeah, you hosted, right?’ Like I was in the audience or at home, watching TV. But I was there.”
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