“It wasn’t a good look for Will,” Bill Maher said today of Will Smith’s reaction to Chris Rock’s joke at the Oscars.
“I could argue that we’re all under a lot of pressure and a lot of emotion — and I understand a lot of emotion flows through him, but that was just inappropriate and reinforced the idea that jokes are the enemy.”
The investigation into the Will Smith-Chris Rock incident will take “weeks,” the academy says
The Real Time host spoke to TMZ.
“It was kind of like an encapsulated culture of abandonment,” he continued, “because at first you could tell he was laughing at the joke, right? This often happens with canceled items. First: “Oh, it’s funny.” And then you look around, ‘Oh wait, I’m supposed to be offended.’ And then there’s the [subsequent] overreaction. He was like the Twitter mob come alive.”
The comedian then commended Chris Rock for not reacting in the same way and putting the focus back on the show.
“Chris Rock is the hero here,” he said.
Maher isn’t the only comedian to publicly take issue with Smith slapping Rock over a joke. Jim Carrey, Whoopi Goldberg, Howard Stern and Kathy Griffen have all voiced their concerns over the past two days.
For his part, Smith’s apology today included the following: “I would like to publicly apologize to you Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong.”
Oscar Afterparty Photos: Will Smith, Jessica Chastain and Kristen Stewart