Grammys host Trevor Noah made a joke about Will Smith’s controversial Oscars slap as he opened the ceremony on Sunday.
At the Academy Awards on March 27th, the “King Richard” actor slapped presenter Chris Rock on stage after making a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, and once he returned to his seat, he yelled at Chris to keep his wife’s name out of his mouth.
A week later, talk show host Trevor took to the stage at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas to host the Grammys and reference the moment dominating the headlines.
“Don’t even think of this as an award show,” he said. “It’s a concert where we are giving out awards, we will be listening to music, dancing, sing, keeping people’s names out of our mouths, and we are going to give people awards all throughout the night. So let’s get straight into it.”
The controversial slap occurred just before Chris presented the Best Documentary Feature prize to “Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised),” directed by The Roots’ Questlove.
The musician addressed the slap and his Oscar win as he presented the Song of the Year Grammy, saying, “All right, I am going to present this award, and I trust that you people will stay 500 feet away from me. As they say, it is far better to give than to receive. Well, I’m not so sure about that because last Sunday it felt pretty good to receive.”
On Friday, Will resigned as a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which organizes the Oscars.
Academy officials are reviewing the incident and considering taking disciplinary action against the Best Actor winner.