Mila Kunis brands standing ovation for Will Smith after Chris Rock Oscars slap ‘insane’ and ‘shocking’

The Luckiest Girl In The World star attended this year’s Academy Awards with husband Ashton Kutcher and said she was ‘shocked’ that people stood for Smith following the incident.
Mila Kunis said not standing up was a ‘no-brainer’
PA Archive
Lisa McLoughlin 7 October 2022
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Mila Kunis has said she stands by her decision not to give Will Smith a standing ovation at the Oscars after he won his first award.

The 39-year-old and her husband Ashton Kutcher, 44, attended the Academy Awards in March and witnessed Smith slap Chris Rock over a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith.

Shortly after the incident, the 54-year-old received a standing ovation by many in attendance as he won Best Actor for his portrayal in King Richard.

Reflecting on the moment six months on, Kunis admitted that she is still "shocked" by how many people stood for the actor in the wake of his actions.

The star told C Magazine: "The idea of leading by example only makes sense when you actually have someone to lead. We have our tiny little tribe here at home, and never once do I want to tell them to do something if I’m not willing to do it myself.

“Not standing up, to me, was a no-brainer, but what was shocking to me was how many people did stand up.

US-ENTERTAINMENT-FILM-OSCARS-ARRIVALS
The actress, pictured with husband Ashton Kutcher, says she stands by her decision to not give Will Smith a standing ovation at the Oscars
AFP via Getty Images

“I thought, ‘Wow, what a time we’re living in that rather than do what’s right, people focus on doing what looks good.’ It’s insane to me.”

Smith apologised to Rock over his infamous Oscars slap in July, marking his first public statement in three months.

In a five-minute video posted on Instagram, he spoke directly to the camera and answered a series of questions from social media about the incident on March 27.

The Hollywood star had stormed the stage and slapped Rock after the comedian made a joke about Smith’s wife and her hair loss as a result of the medical condition alopecia.

Asked why he did not apologise to Rock during his Oscar acceptance speech that came minutes later, Smith said: “I was fogged out by that point. It’s all fuzzy.

“So I will say to you Chris, I apologise to you. My behaviour was unacceptable and I am here whenever you are ready to talk.”

Will Smith tearfully accepted his Oscar after the incident
Getty Images

In the video, Smith also apologised to Rock’s mother, father and younger brother Tony, an actor, who he said had been “my man”, before adding: “But this is probably irreparable.”

He added: “I spent the last three months replaying and understanding the nuances and complexities of what happened in that moment.

“And I’m not going to try and unpack all of that right now, but I can say to all of you that there is no part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave in that moment.

“There is no part of me that thinks that’s the optimal way to handle feelings of disrespect or insults.”

Concluding the video, Smith said he was “deeply remorseful and I’m trying to be remorseful without being ashamed of myself”.

He added: “If you hang on, I promise we will be able to be friends again.”

As a result of the fallout, Smith was banned from all Academy events or programmes for 10 years following his “unprecedented” behaviour at the 94th Academy Awards.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in