Jim Carrey has commented on the ugly incident that unfolded at Monday’s Academy Awards, when then-nominee Will Smith slapped presenter Chris Rock on the face for making a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Carrey said that he found it ‘sickening’ to see Smith get a standing ovation from the crowd minutes later, when he won an Oscar for his performance in King Richard.
Carrey also said that if it were him in Rock’s place, he’d have sued Smith for $200 million because the insulting video of the slap would never disappear. He said that Smith should’ve been escorted out immediately after the incident.
He added, “I’d have announced this morning that I was suing Will for $200 million because that video is going to be there forever, it’s going to be ubiquitous. It came out of nowhere because Will has something going on inside him that’s frustrated. I wish him the best. I have nothing against Will Smith. He’s done great things, but that was not a good moment. It cast a shadow over everyone’s shining moment last night… It was a selfish moment.”
Carrey and Smith both rose to prominence around the same time in the 1990s, when they were among the highest paid male stars in the world.