If there’s one person who finds Will Smith’s 10-year ban from attending the Academy Awards in the aftermath of the King Richard star slapping Chris Rock on a national stage for making a joke about his wife’s bald head, it’s comedian Ricky Gervais. Following the announcement of Smith’s penalty, Gervais took to Twitter with his own commentary on the punishment: “Hopefully, he’ll only do 6 years with good behavior,” he joked. It’s not the first time Gervais has spoken out about the ordeal. He originally called Rock’s sig: “Like the tamest joke I would’ve ever told.”
When fans asked Gervais what would have happened to him in the same circumstances, Gervais replied, “Nothing,” adding, “It [never would] happen to me because I wouldn’t have told a joke about his wife’s hair,” he commented, per Deadline. “I’d have told a joke about her boyfriend,” he added, referencing Jada Pinkett Smith’s romance with singer August Alsina that she spoke about in public on her Emmy-award-winning Facebook Watch talk show, Red Table Talk.
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Pinkett Smith has been open about the fact that she suffers from alopecia, which occurs when the immune system attacks hair follicles. Gervais didn’t find the joke funny. “Well, I’m going a bit thin; I’m disabled,” he said. “I can park right up next to Tesco’s now [in disabled parking]. I’m fat. That’s a disease. I’m fat and balding.”
Smith says he respects the Academy’s decision. Despite the ban, it does not mean he cannot be nominated for awards within the next 10 years. Smith has also apologized. Rock hasn’t made any official statements regarding the ordeal.
Others have come to Smith’s defense, alleging racism and the Bel-Air executive producer being made an example out of. Ahead of the Academy’s decision, Smith had already come forward to reveal that he was giving up his membership.
There were some calls for Smith’s Oscar to be taken back. The Academy noted in their official statement that they did not have the authority to do so, naming winners like Roman Polanski who have been accused of serious crimes as sexual assault, who have kept their awards.
