"He’s got emotional problems": Howard Stern reacts to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at Oscars 2022

Will Smith and Chris Rock are still making headlines after Smith slapped Chris onstage at the Oscars 2022, for joking about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s condition. Referencing Pinkett Smith’s appearance, Chris Rock made a joke saying,

“Jada, I love ya. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it.”

Will Smith was seen laughing right after the comment, however, after seeing the look on his wife's face, he went on to slap Rock onstage.

On the SiriusXM show, Howard Stern spoke about the unacceptable incident of Will Smith slapping Chris Rock. Stern commented,

"Obviously, he’s got emotional problems."

Howard Stern's reaction to the unfortunate event clearly denotes that he did not think much of Chris Rock's joke, but certainly thought extremely less of Smith’s violent reaction.

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Howard Stern slams Will Smith for slapping Chris Rock at the 94th Academy Awards

It is quite evident that the highly acclaimed radio personality and comedian Howard Stern was extremely disappointed in Smith for reacting in such a violent manner. The comedian said on the SiriusXM show,

"Where’s security? This is a live television event. Not one person came out, because he’s Will Smith....He decided he’s gonna take matters into his own hands — at a time when the world is at war. Bad timing, man. I mean, calm your f***ing a** down."

Co-host Robin Quivers added,

"It shows where we are as human beings,...Like, you can’t even say something in a room without a war breaking out."

Stern, who has openly talked about his own mental health issues in the past, further said,

"This is a sign of great mental illness when you can’t control your impulse,...He didn’t think twice about what he was about to do. Now that’s crazy, when you can’t contain yourself like that."

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The comedian was quite sympathetic towards Chris Rock and clearly spoke about how he did not think the joke was insulting. He further commented on the show,

"Not only that, it was hardly an insulting joke. It was not even a good joke. The joke, quite frankly, was beneath Chris Rock. It was a throwaway: ‘You look like G.I. Jane....Poor Chris Rock is a comedian and just trying to get through the day to make the f–king people laugh at that horrible ceremony."

Howard Stern also revealed his disappointment with the Hollywood stars as they did not get up to stop and condemn the situation. He said,

"You don’t hit people over speech, certainly not at the Academy Awards, and Will Smith’s got to contain himself....Here’s Hollywood that’s so outraged by every little thing. Not one person got up and said, ‘Hold on, we got an out-of-control situation here."

The comedian further commented,

"How this guy was allowed to sit there for the rest of the awards, and he’s laughing it up and having a good time with his wife? What he did was he just assaulted Chris Rock."

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Although the Men in Black star tearfully apologized to the Academy and his fellow nominees after receiving his Best Actor award for King Richard, Stern still thinks the incident was unacceptable and quite upsetting.