Following the infamous altercation that occurred onstage at the 2022 Oscars, Amy Schumer, who co-hosted the ceremony, says she is ‘triggered’ and ‘traumatized’ after watching Will Smith slap host Chris Rock.
On Wednesday, the actress and comedienne, 40, took to Instagram to share a message to fans alongside a photo of herself.
“I think we can all agree that the best way to unpack what happened is to stream my series @lifeandbethhulu and see me on tour this fall,” Schumer wrote. “But for real. Still triggered and traumatized.”
She continued: “I love my friend @chrisrock and believe he handled it like a pro. Stayed up there and gave an Oscar to his friend @questlove and the whole thing was so disturbing. So much pain in @willsmith anyway I’m still in shock and stunned and sad.”
Schumer finished her post by saying that she was “proud” of herself and her cohosts Wanda Sykes and Regina Hall, adding, “But yeah. Waiting for this sickening feeling to go away from what we all witnessed.”
While on stage during the ceremony, Schumer remained cool as a cucumber after the shocking incident, quipping, “Did I miss something?” when she returned to the stage moments after it occurred.
The fiasco, which occurred on live TV Sunday night, began when Rock, 57, joked “Jada, I love ya. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see ya.” His quip was in reference to Pinket Smith’s short haircut, which she recently opened up about as being a result of her struggle with hair-loss condition alopecia.
After seeing his wife’s expression of disapproval, Smith stood up from his seat next to her, walked on stage, and smacked Rock in the face before walking back to his spot in the audience.
“Oh wow,” said Rock, clearly shocked. “Will Smith just smacked the s— out of me.”
From the audience, Smith shouted, “Keep my wife’s name out your f—ing mouth!”
“Wow, dude, it was a G.I. Jane joke,” replied Rock — to which Smith yelled again, “Keep my wife’s name out your f—ing mouth!”
“I’m going to, okay?” Rock said. After a beat, he continued, “That was the … greatest night in the history of television.” The show continued as Rock presented the next award. Later that night, Smith won Best Actor for his performance as Richard Williams, father of tennis icons Venus and Serena Williams, in King Richard.
“I want to apologize to the Academy. I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees,” he said through tears in his acceptance speech. “Art imitates life: I look like the crazy father. Just like they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things.”
He ended the speech by saying, “Being able to love and care for my mother and my family, my wife … Thank you for this honor. Thank you for this moment. … I hope the Academy invites me back.”
