‘It was the epitome of all that is twisted and horrible about Hollywood’: Steve Coogan accuses Will Smith of ‘appalling arrogance’ after slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars
Steve Coogan has accused Will Smith of ‘appalling arrogance’ after he slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars last week.
The actor, 56, said that the incident was the ‘epitome of all that is twisted and horrible about Hollywood’ during a chat on on BBC Radio’s Loose Ends programme.
Chris was hit by King Richard actor Will, 53, on stage after he joked that Will’s wife Jada, who has openly shared her alopecia struggles, was set to star in GI Jane 2 due to her shaved head.
Reaction: Steve Coogan has accused Will Smith of ‘appalling arrogance’ after he slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars last week
Steve has now said of the slap: ‘First of all, Hollywood showed itself at its absolute worst.
‘For all the kind of moral posturing that Hollywood has… I think all Hollywood’s moral posturing are always commercial decisions and if they’re moral, they’re dressed up as moral but they are always bottomline decisions’
‘I think it’s appalling arrogance. The epitome of all that is twisted and horrible about Hollywood.’
Oh dear: Chris was hit by King Richard actor Will, 53, on stage after he joked that Will’s wife Jada was set to star in GI Jane 2 due to her shaved head
On Friday Will announced that he had resigned from the Academy, which means that he won’t be able to vote for the Oscars or attend special Academy events in the future.
However, he will still be eligible for future Oscar nominations.
‘I am resigning from membership in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and will accept any further consequences the Board deems appropriate,’ he wrote in a statement.
‘Change takes time and I am committed to doing the work to ensure that I never again allow violence to overtake reason,’ Smith concluded.
Having his say: Steve has now said of the slap: ‘First of all, Hollywood showed itself at its absolute worst’
The actor may still face disciplinary measures from the Academy despite his voluntary resignation.
Steve continued of his criticism of the situation: ‘There’s over a thousand witnesses, they wouldn’t have a problem securing a conviction.’
‘Having said that, frankly you either believe in freedom of expression or you don’t. We do have rules. You can’t go up to someone as it were and be racist in to their face. You can’t hide behind freedom of expression.
Sad: On Friday Will announced that he had resigned from the Academy, which means that he won’t be able to vote for the Oscars or attend special Academy events in the future
‘We do have ways of trying to curtail obnoxious behaviour. But freedom of expression is to be guarded at all costs.’
In his acceptance speech at the Oscars, Smith apologized to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences – whose members vote for the awards, and who stages the ceremony – but stopped short of apologizing to Rock.
Smith initially laughed off the attack, writing on Instagram on Sunday evening: ‘You can’t invite people from Philly or Baltimore nowhere!!’
Yet as the gravity of the situation became clear, Smith then posted a public apology to Instagram 24 hours after the ceremony, saying he wanted to say sorry formally to Rock.
He said his behavior was ‘unacceptable and inexcusable’ and left him ’embarrassed’.
‘I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris,’ he wrote.
‘I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be.
‘There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.’
Two days after the incident, Will’s wife, Jada, 50, finally broke her silence with an Instagram post that read, ‘This is a season for healing and I’m here for it.’
Party: Smith initially laughed off the attack, writing on Instagram on Sunday evening: ‘You can’t invite people from Philly or Baltimore nowhere!!’
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