Howard Stern: Will Smith’s Chris Rock slap slammed

Howard Stern has weighed in on Will Smith’s shocking assault on Chris Rock at the Oscars, claiming it’s “a sign of great mental illness”.

Howard Stern was “disturbed” by Will Smith’s assault on Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars, and argues it's a sign the King Richard actor is suffering from mental illness.

“This is a sign of great mental illness when you can’t control your impulse. Not only that, it was hardly an insulting joke. It was not even a good joke,” Stern, 68, said on his SiriusXM Show on Monday, referring to Rock’s jab at Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head.

“The joke, quite frankly, was beneath Chris Rock. It was a throwaway. ‘You look like G.I. Jane.’”

Stern argued that what fans saw on TV was “a guy who’s got real issues”, reports the New York Post.

“He didn’t think twice about what he was about to do,” he said. “Now that’s crazy, when you can’t contain yourself like that.”

The radio host claimed that Rock — whom he described as a “gentle soul” and “not a fighter” — was just trying to do his job and Smith is “clearly insane.”

“Poor Chris Rock is a comedian and just trying to get through the day to make the f**king people laugh at that horrible ceremony,” Stern said. “[Rock is] so fast comedy wise, he actually covered and made a joke and said, ‘Gee, best Oscars yet.’”

The slap that was felt around the world. Picture: Robyn Beck/AFP

He added, “He was able to comment outside of what just happened to him and then he got flustered. He got f**ked over.”

Stern continued to defend Rock’s comments, saying that the joke wasn’t even that offensive.

“He got up and he compared Jada Pinkett Smith to one of the most beautiful women in the world, Demi Moore,” Stern said. “You don’t hit people over speech, certainly not at the Academy Awards, and Will Smith’s got to contain himself.”

Stern also argued that it was unacceptable that no one did anything to contain the situation, and just allowed Smith to continue sitting in the audience.

“Here’s Hollywood that’s so outraged by every little thing. Not one person got up and said, ‘Hold on, we got an out-of-control situation here,’” he said.

“How this guy was allowed to sit there for the rest of the awards, and he’s laughing it up and having a good time with his wife. What he did was he just assaulted Chris Rock.”

Stern said he thought the assault was staged at first, but realised that the attack was just Smith acting on impulse.

“The first thing I said to my wife, ‘The f**k is going on? Is this a bit? Because, where’s security?’” he recalled. “This is a live television event. Not one person came out, because he’s Will Smith.

“This is how [Donald] Trump gets away with s**t … Will Smith and Trump are the same guy. He decided he’s going to take matters into his own hands, at a time when the world is at war. Bad timing, man, calm your f**king a**e down.”

The radio host joked that Smith, 53, only got up to fight Rock, 57, because he’s much bigger than the comedian.

“If Jason Momoa would have made that joke, [Smith], like a b*tch, would have sat there in his seat. He would have said, ‘Thank you for acknowledging my wife, Mr. Momoa,’” Stern joked.

Stern also pointed out how strange it is that Smith was not arrested for his clear assault on Rock, noting that Rock reportedly isn’t pressing charges.

“Why does he have to press charges? We saw it on live TV with our own eyes,” Stern said.

In a scene that shocked the world, Smith struck Rock across the face with an open hand for cracking a joke about his wife’s bald head at the 94th Academy Awards.

The actor was in tears as he accepted the Best Actor award shortly after the incident. Picture: Robyn Beck/AFP

Howard Stern has slammed Smith. Picture: Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images

Pinkett Smith, 50, recently shaved her head and has been open about her struggle with alopecia, which causes hair loss.

“Jada, I love you, ‘G.I. Jane 2,’ can’t wait to see it,” Rock said on stage. Pinkett Smith visibly turned angry and Smith swiftly walked up to Rock to assault him.

“Keep my wife’s name out of your f**king mouth,” Smith shouted repeatedly after exiting the stage.

Minutes later, while accepting the Best Actor accolade for his role in King Richard, Smith apologised — though he notably did not mention Rock.

“I want to apologise to all of my fellow nominees. This is a beautiful moment, and I’m not crying for winning an award,” he said while choking back tears. “Love will make you do crazy things.”

Page Six also reported that Rock and Smith had plans to make amends at the Vanity Fair afterparty, which Sean “Diddy” Combs later confirmed.

“That’s not a problem. That’s over. I can confirm that,” Diddy, 52, told Page Six, adding, “It’s all love. They’re brothers.”

This article originally appeared in the New York Post and was reproduced with permission.