If you mention the 94th Academy Awards to someone who watched the ceremony back in 2022, chances are the first thing that will come to mind isn’t one of the wins, but rather Will Smith slapping Chris Rock onstage. This unexpected violent moment quickly grabbed attention from everything else that happened that night, including Wanda Sykes, Regina Hall and Amy Schumer hosting as a trio. In the aftermath, though, Smith did reach out to Sykes to apologize for what happened… eventually.
The comedian mentioned the Men in Black star contacting her while speaking with Variety about her current standup tour, “Please & Thank You.” After interviewer Selome Hailu mentioned that her hosting work got “overshadowed” by the slapping incident, Sykes had this to say about whether she still celebrates that night as an “achievement” or if the “memory is soured”:
I mean, I loved working with Regina [Hall] and Amy [Schumer]. But like you said, it got overshadowed. People talk to me about that night without even mentioning, ‘Oh yeah, you hosted, right?’ Like I was in the audience or at home, watching TV. But I was there.
This whole thing started when Chris Rock, who was presenting the Best Documentary Feature category, made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, being in a sequel to G.I. Jane. This was in reference to her shaved head, which she’d done in response to being diagnosed with alopecia. Moments later, Will Smith walked onstage, slapped Rock, went back to his seat and told the Madagascar actor to keep his wife’s name out of his “fucking mouth.”
Will Smith later won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance in King Richard and apologized for what happened earlier, and while he didn’t reference Chris Rock during the speech, he did apologize to him the next day. Though Wanda Sykes had once said Smith never apologized to her about the moment that “traumatized” her, she shared during the interview that he did eventually reach out, saying:
He did. He called. I had COVID or a bad cold. I just texted to say, ‘Hey, I got your message. Thank you. I can’t talk.’ But he did call.
It’s unclear if Will Smith and Wanda Sykes ever had a full conversation on the subject after she got better, but at least he made the effort to apologize. Sykes also had a more personal tie to the incident given her friendship with Chris Rock, stretching back to when she opened for him in the mid ‘90s, then later both wrote for and appeared in The Chris Rock Show. Smith was ultimately expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and banned from attending the Oscars or any Academy-related event for 10 years.
You can see Wanda Sykes in “Please & Thank You” until the tour concludes in March 2026, and Will Smith’s production company, Westbrook, recently signed a multi-picture deal with Paramount. The 98th Academy Awards will air Sunday, March 15, 2026, with Conan O’Brien hosting again.