Jim Carrey ‘was sickened’ by Will Smith getting a standing ovation at the Oscars

March 30, 2022

At this point in the Will Smith-Chris Rock story, I am begging white people to just not have an opinion. Or better yet, y’all can have an opinion but you don’t have to share it with the class repeatedly as you talk over people of color. It’s fine if you sit out some conversations. The world won’t end. It’s even better if you just sit back and listen and allow your perspective to adjust based on what you hear. If that’s not your style and you really feel like something needs to be said, learn some easy-peasy non-committal fillers like “wow, that’s crazy” and “man, I can’t believe that happened” and “I’m going to pray on it.” Judd Apatow is one of those people who needs to sit out some conversations. Jim Carrey is another one. Carrey is currently promoting Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and he decided to go off on Will Smith… getting a standing ovation for winning an Oscar.

Jim Carrey is criticizing Hollywood for giving Will Smith a standing ovation when it was announced at the Oscars that he won best actor for “King Richard.” Smith’s Oscar victory occurred several minutes after he slapped Chris Rock while the comedian was presenting the documentary feature category. Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head, which she shaved last year after revealing she has alopecia.
“I was sickened,” Carrey told CBS’ Gayle King (via HuffPost). “I was sickened by the standing ovation. 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.”
Carrey said Smith “should’ve been” escorted out of the Oscars ceremony after he slapped Rock. King noted that Chris Rock declined to file a police report about the incident, but Carrey claimed that was only because the comedian “didn’t want the hassle.”
“I’d have announced this morning that I was suing Will for $200 million because that video is going to be there forever, it’s going to be ubiquitous,” Carrey said. “That insult is gonna last a very long time. If you want to yell from the audience and show disapproval or say something on Twitter [that’s fine]. But you do not have the right to walk up on stage and smack somebody in the face because they said words… [The slap] came out of nowhere because Will has something going on inside him that’s frustrated. I wish him the best. I have nothing against Will Smith. He’s done great things, but that was not a good moment. It cast a shadow over everyone’s shining moment last night…It was a selfish moment.”

[From Variety]

Here’s my take, as an Indian-American woman, on Jim Carey: man, that’s crazy. I can’t believe that happened. I’m sure gonna pray on it.

Honestly, I was somewhat surprised that Will’s peers gave him a standing ovation when he won as well, but I took it as a sign that no matter what, Will still has friends in that room. No matter what, people still like him and that was largely why he won the Oscar in the first place, because he’s incredibly popular within Hollywood, because he has a body of work which is Oscar-worthy and he gave a specifically Oscar-worthy performance. Even in his Oscar speech – which was one of the most emotionally raw moments I’ve ever seen on television – he was sad, embarrassed and apologetic. It’s not like he went up there are threatened to smack everybody else who talked sh-t.