Usually the hosts of The View are encouraged to say everything they can — but this is one Hot Topic where Whoopi Goldberg had to hold her tongue!
Once again on the daytime talk show, the ladies were discussing the shocking moment during the Oscars when Chris Rock made a bad joke about Jada Pinkett Smith‘s new bald look (brought upon by alopecia), and Will Smith reacted by walking up to the stage and slapping the comic across the face.
On Tuesday’s show they had the new info of Will’s apology. He released a statement on Instagram Monday afternoon apologizing specifically to Chris but also to the Academy and show producers, writing:
“Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behavior at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally.”
So moderator Whoopi put it to the rest of the table what they thought of the apology. Eventually the talk turned to consequences, and the ladies seemed to agree that even if they understood how Will could have reacted how he did, he still should face consequences for his act of violence. The possibility of taking away his award even came up as it was pointed out that even Harvey Weinstein got to keep his trophies.
It was at this point Whoopi got visibly uncomfortable as she was not able to weigh in like she wanted to. Why? Well, Whoopi — one of the world’s only EGOTs btw — is a member of the Academy’s Board of Governors. You know, the ones who are deciding what to do about the incident in a formal review!
She tried to respond without responding, saying first:
“I’m not going to talk to you about what’s going on with the Oscars.”
But as they continued she couldn’t help but say something as she knew what was up behind closed doors, so she teased:
“Let me say this. There are consequences. There are big consequences because nobody, nobody is OK with what happened. Nobody, nobody, nobody.”
What will those consequences be? Well, she had already said on Monday’s show:
“We’re not going to take that Oscar from him.”
So it’s going to be something less severe. But what? Suspension from the Academy? No more invites? We’ll have to wait and see.
Whoopi wouldn’t say more about what’s coming, but she did take a moment to give some insight into what happened on the night. She explained:
“The reason no one got up to comfort Chris is they weren’t going to let anyone else on the stage… There were people there for Chris… The reason people got up and went over to is because I think a lot of people thought, ‘Oh my god, is he having a break? Do we need to get him out? What do we need to do?’”
So why wasn’t Will taken out? She knows exactly why. She revealed:
“And the reason they didn’t go and get him out is because that would have been another 15, 20 minute explanation of why we’re taking the Black man out five seconds before they’re about to decide whether he’s won an Oscar or not.”
As far as she’s concerned everything was done right.
“I believe Will Packer made the right decision, he said let’s get to the rest of this so we can deal with it wholeheartedly.
She added that no one was prepared to make these decisions as it was “not the first time craziness has happened on stage” but it was “the first time we’ve seen anybody assault anybody on stage.”
See the full convo (below):
Source: Read Full Article