Becca Monaghan
Apr 03, 2022
SNL
It's been a week since Will Smith took to the Oscars stage and struck Chris Rock after a tasteless joke about Jada Pinkett Smith.
And now Saturday Night Live has jumped on to poke fun at the altercation – with not one, not two, but three separate skits despite "not wanting to talk about it."
The show kickstarted with Jerrod Carmichael and his monologue expressing the world's fatigue at the infamous slap. He explained that he was initially excited about the Oscars drama on Monday, but now he's just bored of it.
"I'm not going to talk about it," he said before reiterating how tedious it has become.
"I want to be clear up top, I talked about it enough.
"Kept talking about, kept thinking about it.
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"I don't want to talk about it – and you can't make me talk about it.
"But I've got a question – do you want to talk about it?"
Inevitably, the crowd erupted into cheers.
Jerrod Carmichael Monologue - SNLwww.youtube.com
SNL then had a field day with the two following skits.
One saw OJ Simpson, played by Kenan Thompson, weigh in on the issue during the Weekend Update segment. He said he didn't understand Rock's joke and believed Smith was overreacting. He then joked that he hadn't actually watched the ceremony.
"I don't want to say you got rage issues, but if the glove fits," Thompson's OJ joked. "Love makes you do crazy things, allegedly."
Weekend Update: O.J. Simpson on Will Smith's Oscars Slap - SNLwww.youtube.com
The third skit hilariously put their own spin on the "seat fillers", where Chris Redd's portrayal of Smith was seated amongst lifelong fans.
Redd's Smith agreed to taking a selfie with one of the fans, which was interrupted by Chris Rock's joke against his wife. He casually gets out of his seat and a slap echoes across the room, before sitting back down as though nothing had happened.
The fans look frightened, as Redd mimics Smith's infamous words: "Keep my wife's name out your f***ing mouth."
"I love the Oscars, man," he yelled. "I love the movies, man."
Seat Fillers - SNLwww.youtube.com
The clips made the rounds across social media – and some fans weren't impressed.
Twitter users flocked to the platform to weigh in on SNL's comedic efforts.
SNL making the unfunniest parody of Will Smith slapping Chris Rock you\u2019ve ever seenpic.twitter.com/9bUXmaJLLh— \ud83d\udc51\u2102\u210d\ud835\udd38\ud835\udd46\ud835\udd4a\ud835\udd42\ud835\udd40\ud835\udd3b\ud83d\udc51\uea00 (@\ud83d\udc51\u2102\u210d\ud835\udd38\ud835\udd46\ud835\udd4a\ud835\udd42\ud835\udd40\ud835\udd3b\ud83d\udc51\uea00) 1648497578
oh no\u2014pic.twitter.com/lILLuhVuZ5— Olive \uea00 (@Olive \uea00) 1648503505
PEOPLE WERE ON POINT WHEN THEY SAID SNL WOULD MAKE AN OUT OF TOUCH WILL SMITH SKIT LMAO!pic.twitter.com/XNUVxf5FKt— theblackfreeman\ud83d\ude29\ud83d\udd2b(NEWMUSICOUTNOW) (@theblackfreeman\ud83d\ude29\ud83d\udd2b(NEWMUSICOUTNOW)) 1648966700
Oh wow, that SNL Will Smith sketch was hilarious. I am totally laughing my ass off rn /spic.twitter.com/xSVxBsVBvs— doodlemike \ud83c\udf4e\u270f\ufe0f (@doodlemike \ud83c\udf4e\u270f\ufe0f) 1648959757
SNL writers coming into work today ready to write the worst Chris Rock vs Will Smith sketch ever made.pic.twitter.com/PbEFHmPCt7— Matty Rex (@Matty Rex) 1648480846
Yea this Will Smith skit is terrible they could\u2019ve just kept that out #SNL— Black Queen\ud83d\udc97 (@Black Queen\ud83d\udc97) 1648959208
Others however, found the skits highly entertaining and praised the comedians involved.
I love that Jerrod Carmichael just did an entire monologue about Slapgate without using the words "Will Smith", "Chris Rock", "Jada Pinkett Smith", "Oscars" or "slap". It was like he was playing the stand-up comedy version of the game 'Taboo'. #SNL— Frankly My Dear I Don't Kiffa Damn (@Frankly My Dear I Don't Kiffa Damn) 1648957882
SNL just killed it with Will Smith Oscarpic.twitter.com/9vZKOKqd3O— Angel Lopez (@Angel Lopez) 1648959244
OMG I love this sketch about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars lol #sNLpic.twitter.com/kZUUJZQjbR— Sa\u00fal Alejandro (@Sa\u00fal Alejandro) 1648970573
Jerrod Carmichael's SNL monologue about Will Smith is so accurate and on point about how silly it is that people are still talking about it. Like...LMAO— Jason (Recast T'Challa) (@Jason (Recast T'Challa)) 1648971083
#SNL \n\nLove that this entire stand-up bit is talking about the Will Smith slap without technically talking about it.— Ace Spinellius (@Ace Spinellius) 1648957442
S/o to Jerrod Carmichael and Chris Redd for doing the Will Smith bit! I know a lot of hosts wouldn\u2019t be willing to do it. It was HILARIOUS! #SNL— Black Al Bundy (@Black Al Bundy) 1648959343
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