TESTAMENT guitarist Alex Skolnick has slammed Will Smith for slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards.
Skolnick reacted after Smith interrupted Chris Rock’s introduction of the “Best Documentary” category by walking up and slapping him across the face. The altercation went down after Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith, saying, “Jada, I love ya. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see ya,” making reference to her bald head as the actress suffers from alopecia.
Moments later, Smith walked up to Rock onstage and slapped him across the face before returning to his seat.
Later in the night, Smith won the “Best Actor” award for his role in “King Richard” where he addressed the incident in his acceptance speech by apologizing to the Academy and his fellow actors.
“I want to apologize to the Academy. I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees,” Smith said in part.
He added: “Art imitates life: I look like the crazy father. Just like they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things.”
Last night, Skolnick shared a clip of the incident on Twitter and wrote: “I missed #Oscars2022 & a whole lot apparently. Quick thought: Wasn’t he the ‘nice’ rapper? Meanwhile ‘scary’ rappers have great senses of humor, ie IceT & Snoop (his IG is LOL FUNNY). C’mon #WillSmith. You don’t have to like #ChrisRock ‘s joke but an ugly meltdown? Violence? Wtf?”
Earlier today, Skolnick posted again to his Twitter adding the following comment: “#WillSmith’s overreaction at the #Oscars stole the spotlight from @questlove, #SummerOfSoul & even #KingRichard (for which he won!) There are better ways to express displeasure. Just when it finally gets past #OscarsSoWhite, he turns it into #OscarsYoFight #willsmithchrisrock”.
I missed #Oscars2022 & a whole lot apparently. Quick thought: Wasn’t he the “nice” rapper? Meanwhile “scary” rappers have great senses of humor, ie IceT & Snoop (his IG is LOL FUNNY). C’mon #WillSmith. You don’t have to like #ChrisRock ‘s joke but an ugly meltdown? Violence? Wtf? https://t.co/ss7nFQUrI2
— Alex Skolnick 🇺🇦 (@AlexSkolnick) March 28, 2022