Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel cracks jokes about last year’s Will Smith slap of Chris Rock

Will Smith wasn’t in attendance at the Oscars this year after the actor slapped presenter Chris Rock last year. The slap followed a joke made about Jada Pinkett-Smith’s expense. That didn’t stop Will Smith’s name from coming up. A lot. Jimmy Kimmel, hosting his third Academy Awards ceremony, made several cracks about the incident in his opening monologue.

Kimmel covered everything from telling the crowd that there was an incident response team to saying that any would-be attacker would have to get through actors like The Rock, Michelle Yeoh and Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield).

He also made reference to it again before the award for Best Documentary — which was when the slap happened in the show last year. Here’s his opening monologue segment:

Jimmy Kimmel jokes about last year's #Oscars slap during his opening monologue pic.twitter.com/QRkHyAfm4T

— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) March 13, 2023