Gloucestershire comedian reacts to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock during the Oscars
Comedian Cerys Nelmes comments on the shocking moment in last night's Oscars ceremony
Last updated 28th Mar 2022
Gloucestershire comedian Cerys Nelmes told us she was "in shock" to see Will Smith walk up the stage at the Oscars to slap Chris Rock, over a joke about wife Jada Pinkett-Smith.
The moment happened when Chris Rock was presenting the award for Best Documentary and cracked a joke about Jada Pinkett-Smith starring in 'G.I. Jane 2' in reference to her shaved head.
Last year, Jada publicly shared that she suffered from alopecia, an auto-immune disorder that causes hair loss. Her husband, Will Smith, took offence and walked up on stage, hitting Rock across the face with an open hand.
Speaking to Greatest Hits Radio, Gloucestershire comedian Cerys Nelmes told us she was "in shock" when she saw the slapping, and that it was too "mild" of a joke to provoke such a violent reaction.
"When I first saw it, I was in shock, to be honest.
"I was expecting the joke beforehand to be quite a lot more serious to provoke that kind of reaction.
"I think you've got to decide what's worth joking about and what's not worth joking about.
"Saying that, Will (Smith) is coming from a background of violence in the household. I don't know whether there's stuff going on that it was a trigger for him, but obviously wrong place wrong time, and not quite the trigger joke that it was made out to be - it was quite a mild joke."
"Are people going to think it's acceptable to just get up on stage and hit us?"
Cerys is concerned about the knock-on effects the assault on Chris Rock will have on comedians performing on comedy club stages.
"Somebody made a joke about his wife, he didn't like it. And it wasn't just having a word or saying 'Take my wife's name off your mouth' and sitting in your seat. He physically assaulted somebody.
"As a comedian in a comedy club, if we go slightly too far, are people going to think it's acceptable to just get up on stage and hit us?
"Like in that situation last night, you've got security there (on comedy nights) but they're never going to be there in time to stop something like that happening.
"It's going to be a very fine line to walk on now if people think that's acceptable."
In response to the incident, the Academy said in a statement: 'The Academy does not condone violence of any form.'
In a statement to Variety after the Oscars broadcast, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed that Rock had declined to file a police report.