This past weekend’s Academy Awards incident involving Will Smith and Chris Rock has plenty of entertainers weighing in on the topic, with many sharing their opinions about how things unfolded and continued after Smith slapped Rock onstage.
The startling incident during the Oscars’ live telecast even has some entertainers putting their fans on notice, including Wiz Khalifa.
The 34-year-old rapper wants his concertgoers to know that running on stage to slap him will result in them getting shot, so they should think twice before doing so.
Wiz Khalifa’s ‘you will get shot’ clip surfaces
While the Will Smith slap seen, heard, and felt around the world happened five days ago, it’s continued to dominate headlines as various celebrities give their thoughts. Oscars co-hosts Wanda Sykes and Amy Schumer have weighed in, as well as other comedians questioning how safe they are during a live event.
The Academy Awards ceremony included Rock as a presenter joking about Will Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, and her bald look. Rock joked, “G.I. Jane 2. Can’t wait to see it,” prompting laughter from Will Smith, but Jada didn’t look amused.
Soon after, Will proceeded to walk up to the stage and smacked Rock in the face before returning to his seat in the audience. After hitting Rock, Will shouted at Rock to keep his wife’s name out of his mouth.
The show continued on with Chris presenting an award and Smith later winning Best Actor. He gave a teary-eyed acceptance speech and received a standing ovation for his win.
A video clip began circulating online (below) from a recent Wiz Khalifa performance where the rapper delivered a message with a warning to people in the audience.
“Thank y’all for coming out. If anybody tries to walk up here and slap me, you will get shot,” he told everyone. “I’m just letting you know right now.”
Khalifa’s onstage comment drew laughter from the crowd, most likely due to fans realizing what he was referring to. The Oscars incident has been on the minds of other comedians and talk show hosts, including Ellen DeGeneres, Jimmy Kimmel, and others.
According to Wiz Khalifa’s website, he has shows coming up in Northampton, MA, on April 15, Morrison, Colorado, on April 18, and Washington, DC, on April 23.
The rapper, known for hits including Black and Yellow and Young, Wild, & Free, released the album Rolling Papers 2 in July 2018, and it has been RIAA-certified gold. Khalifa released Million Dollar Moment in 2021 and Ordinary Life in 2022.
Chris Rock did first comedy show since slap
On Wednesday night, Chris Rock did his first public show for his Ego Death comedy tour with a stop in Boston, Massachusetts. During the event, he touched briefly upon what happened at the Oscars without referring to Will Smith. That was after the audience at Wilbur Theater gave him a lengthy standing ovation to start the show.
“How was your weekend?” Rock asked the crowd, generating laughter and cheers.
“I don’t have a bunch of s**t about what happened, so if you came to hear that, I have a whole show I wrote before this weekend, and I’m still kind of processing what happened,” Rock said, adding, “So at some point, I’ll talk about that s**t. And it’ll be serious, and it’ll be funny.”
Following the Oscars incident, Variety reported that ticket prices for Rock’s shows had surged.
The night the incident occurred, the Academy initially issued a statement in which they condoned violence during their event. A day later, they revealed they were looking into the situation further with potential consequences for Will Smith. They also shared that “Mr. Smith was asked to leave the ceremony and refused” after the incident occurred.
It’s been suggested that, at most, Smith may receive a suspension or expulsion from the Academy due to his actions. The Best Actor winner apologized on his Instagram to Chris Rock and others following the event in a lengthy message, saying he is a “work in progress.”