Jim Carrey Has Harsh Words for Oscars Audience’s Standing Ovation for Will Smith

Jim Carrey has publicly expressed his thoughts on fellow actor Will Smith’s behavior at the Oscars. During an interview on CBS Mornings, he expressed his dismay over Smith’s standing ovation following his Best Actor win. “Hollywood is just spineless en masse and it really felt like this is a really clear indication that we aren’t the cool club anymore,” he said.

According to Carrey, Smith should have been arrested. However, Gayle King noted that Chris Rock chose not to press charges. Carrey claimed Rock did not “want the hassle” after Smith slapped him on camera for making a joke about wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s appearance.  

“I’d have announced this morning that I was suing Will for 200 million dollars because that video is going to be there forever, it’s going to be ubiquitous. That insult is gonna last a very long time,” he said. “If you want to yell from the audience and show disapproval or say something on Twitter, you do not have the right to walk up on stage and smack somebody in the face ‘cuz they said words.” 

Carrey countered King’s claim that the incident “escalated to that level,” interjecting, “It didn’t escalate, it came out of nowhere because Will has something going on inside him that’s frustrated.” He added, “I wish him the best, I really do. I don’t have anything against Will Smith. He’s done great things. But that was not a good moment. It cast a pall over everybody’s shining moment. A lot of people worked really hard to get to that place.”  

“And to have their moment in the sun, to get their award for the really hard work they did, it is no mean feat to go through all the stuff you have to go through when you are nominated for an Oscar,” he continued. “It’s a gauntlet of devotion you have to do. It was such a selfish moment that cast a pall over the whole thing.” 

Whoopi Goldberg, who is a member of the Academy’s Board of Governors, said on Tuesday’s episode of The View that “big consequences” are coming for Smith’s actions. The Oscar winner commented, “I’m not going to talk to you about what’s going on with the Oscars. …Let me say this. There are consequences. There are big consequences because nobody is OK with what happened. Nobody, nobody, nobody.” 

Yesterday, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that it is opening “a formal review around the incident and will explore further action and consequences in accordance,” stating on Twitter that they do “not condone violence of any form.”