Amy Schumer has more thoughts about witnessing Will Smith smack Chris Rock on stage at the Oscars last month.
The comedian, who hosted the ceremony along with Wanda Sykes and Regina Hall, spoke about the incident again during an appearance on SiriusXM’s “The Howard Stern Show.” She reiterated that the experience was “traumatizing” for her.
“It was a good show and then the slap happened. I had no thoughts of like how it affected me or my performance or anything. It was just upsetting as a person,” she said.
“It was so upsetting,” she added. “People made fun of me for saying that it was traumatizing, but I don’t think it was traumatizing for me. I think it was traumatizing for all of us.”
Although he was clearly in shock, Rock handled the moment in stride. Just seconds later, he presented Best Documentary Feature to Questlove and the rest of the “Summer of Soul” team. Schumer speculated that he was able to brush it off because of his career.
“The reason why Chris Rock could stand there, and get hit in the face, and then stay up there with composure and give his friend [Questlove] an Oscar is because he’s a comedian,” she told Stern. “Everything that you’re afraid of happens to you while you’re on stage, and then you’re just desensitized, so you’re not shocked by anything.”
Schumer also said that she had always admired Smith, which made the moment even more difficult to process.
“It was upsetting for so many reasons and it was upsetting to everyone,” she said. “It was shocking, and it was a bummer.”
The “Life & Beth” star has previously spoken out about the incident, which resulted in Smith resigning from the Academy and getting banned from attending the Oscars (and all other Academy events) for 10 years. During a stand-up special in Las Vegas, she called Smith’s actions were an example of “toxic masculinity.”
