Not worried. After Will Smith received major backlash for slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars, Whoopi Goldberg compared the Academy Award winner’s future to Louis C.K. and Kanye West‘s recent Grammy wins.
Will Smith and Chris Rock’s 2022 Oscars Incident: Everything to Know
“Some people found [C.K. and West’s wins] controversial, but the show didn’t have anything like last week’s controversy, which is fine,” Goldberg, 66, said during an episode of The View on Monday, April 4.
The talk show host was referring to the Louie alum, 54, winning a Grammy for Best Comedy Album on Sunday, April 3, nearly five years after he was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women. He later confirmed the allegations.
West, 44, has also made headlines recently for his controversial comments on social media. The rapper, who won two Grammys on Sunday, April 3, was banned from perfuming during the show after calling host Trevor Noah racial slurs.
According to Goldberg, the Grammy wins set a precedent for Smith, 53, amid his incident at the Oscars late last month. “Also some of Will Smith’s future projects are in question. The question is, does he have a path back? Yes, of course, he does,” she added. “He’ll be fine, he’ll be back. No worries.”
During the 94th annual Academy Awards, the Suicide Squad star raised eyebrows when he slapped Rock, 57, for a joke he made about Jada Pinkett Smith‘s shaved head. After Smith apologized to the comedian on social media, he resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
“My actions at the 94th Academy Awards presentation were shocking, painful, and inexcusable,” the Philadelphia native said in a statement on Friday, April 1, according to Variety. “The list of those I have hurt is long and includes Chris, his family, many of my dear friends and loved ones, all those in attendance, and global audiences at home. I betrayed the trust of the Academy.”
Celebs React to Will Smith Slapping Chris Rock
At the time, Goldberg explained that she appreciated Smith’s response to the backlash even though “nobody is OK with what happened” at the awards show. The Sister Act star also praised how the Academy handled the situation during the live event.
“The reason no one got up to go comfort Chris is because they weren’t gonna let anybody else on the stage,” she said on The View on March 28. “There were people there for Chris. The reason people got up and went over to [Will] is because I think a lot of people thought, ‘Oh my God, is he having a break? Do we need to get him out? What do we need to do?’ ”
Every Time Celebs Weighed In on Jada and Will’s Most Talked About Moments
The New York native added: “The reason they didn’t go and take him out is because that would’ve been another 15-to-20-minute explanation of why we’re taking the Black man out, five seconds before they’re about to decide whether he’s won an Oscar or not. I believe [producer] Will Packer made the right decision. He said let’s get through the rest of this so we can deal with it wholeheartedly. So that’s what went on.”
Amid reports from The Hollywood Reporter that Smith’s projects with Netflix and Sony were being shelved, a source told Us Weekly that Pinkett Smith, 50, is not “angry with” her husband. “It was in the heat of the moment and it was him overreacting. He knows that, she knows that. They’re in agreement that he overreacted,” the source exclusively told Us about the couple, noting that the Girls Trip actress “wishes” Smith didn’t get physical on stage.
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