"He called": Wanda Sykes admits Will Smith did call her to apologize for the Chris Rock Oscar incident

The infamous incident from the Oscars 2022, where the entire award show was overshadowed by just one incident: ‘’Will Smith slapped Chris Rock,’’ has been making headlines again as Wanda Skyes recently spoke about the same. The stand-up comedian and actress appeared in an interview with Variety, where she discussed her Netflix sitcom series, The Upshaw. The topic then moved forward when the interviewer teased about how comedians often get a chance to shine at the Oscars — it gives them a platform to deliver their humorous commentary. So when Wanda got that opportunity in 2022, it turned into complete chaos. 

Wanda Sykes opened up about Will Smith’s slapping incident during her hosting duty at the Oscars

Back in 2022, Wanda Skyes, Amy Schumer, and Regina Hall co-hosted the award night. What triggered Will Smith was when Chris Rock joked about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s ‘’shaved head,’’ which is due to alopecia (a hair problem that leads to baldness on the scalp). It made Will mad, he went on stage, slapped Chris, and said, ‘’Keep my wife’s name out of your f**king mouth.’’ 

The interviewer said, ‘’You hosted the Oscars in 2022, which is usually a career highlight for a comedian,’’ to which Wanda replied, ‘’I forgot about that.’’ When asked if she celebrates that night as an achievement or if the memory has been spoiled? Wanda Skyes said, 

‘’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.’’

She continued speaking about it and said that ‘’he called,’’ her to apologize for everything that happened the night she was co-hosting the award show. She said, 

‘’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 was supposed to be your night,’’ Chris Rock even apologized to Wanda Skyes 

According to People, Chris Rock met Wanda Sykes at the Oscars afterparty, but she felt he didn’t need to apologize, and for her it ‘’was like, 'Why are you apologizing?'’ She said that Chris told her, “It was supposed to be your night — you, Amy, and Regina did such a great job. I’m so sorry that now everything is about this.”

In March 2022, Wanda spoke on The Ellen Show and said that "No one has apologized to [the hosts], and we worked really hard to put that show together." But now, she has admitted that Will had called her later and apologized for the same. 

In the aftermath of the incident, Will was banned from attending the Oscars for almost 10 years, and he even apologized to Chris Rock publicly. Back then, he shared an Instagram post and wrote, 

''Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behavior at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally. I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness. I would also like to apologize to the Academy, the producers of the show, all the attendees and everyone watching around the world. I would like to apologize to the Williams Family and my King Richard Family. I deeply regret that my behavior has stained what has been an otherwise gorgeous journey for all of us.
 
I am a work in progress.
Sincerely,
Will''