‘The View’: Whoopi Goldberg Weighs in on Will Smith’s Apology for Slapping Chris Rock

Whoopi Goldberg accepts Will Smith’s apology for slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars Sunday, but the member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Board of Governors said on The View Tuesday there are “big consequences” coming for what he did. The former Oscars host and Oscar winner shared on the ABC daytime show that she wouldn’t be disclosing what the Academy had discussed in regards to the incident, but offered insight into the Academy’s thinking on the incident.

When Sunny Hostin brought up the conversation surrounding Smith possibly losing his Best Actor Oscar, Goldberg responded, “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.”

WILL SMITH APOLOGIZES TO CHRIS ROCK: The actor apologized for slapping comedian Chris Rock following a joke he made about wife Jada Pinkett Smith at the #Oscars — #TheView panel weighs in after Smith’s mother spoke out saying she was “surprised” by his behavior. pic.twitter.com/j1Vana6eAX

— The View (@TheView) March 29, 2022

“What’s happening is people are now starting to calm down and say, ‘Wait a minute, what could have triggered this?’” Goldberg continued, referencing jokes Rock made four years prior about Will and Jada Pinkett Smith. She continued by explaining why no one rushed to Rock’s side on stage after the slap, despite Smith being consoled by stars including Denzel Washington.

“The thing I also need to tell people is that the reason no one got up to go comfort Chris is because they weren’t going to let anyone else on stage…There were people there for Chris.” She continued that people initially went to comfort Smith because they “thought Oh my god, is he having a break? Do we need to get him out? What do we need to do?”

Goldberg then explained that producers didn’t remove Smith from the ceremony “because that would have been another 15-, 20-minute explanation about why we’re taking the Black man out five seconds before they’re about to decide whether he’s won an Oscar or not.” Goldberg would go on to support producer Will Packer’s decision to “deal with it wholeheartedly” after the ceremony was over, adding, “this is not the first time craziness has happened on stage, but this is the first time we’ve seen anybody assault anybody on stage.”

When it comes to Rock’s assault being played on repeat amid news coverage of the incident, Goldberg reiterated, “He was the victim here, but let’s also know that everything that needed to happen that evening, happened. Chris took care of business. And he is the adult who said, ‘You know what, I get it and I’m going to let this do what this needs to do.’”