Sean Penn is upset about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock during the 2022 Oscars. And in a new Variety interview, the actor-director talks about being upset about Will Smith's iconic slap to Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards, which were held just weeks after Russia's aggressive invasion of Ukraine.
Penn, whose documentary Superpower, on his friend Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is set to be released on Monday (Sepember. 18) sounds furious. Speaking to the magazine, he said, “the Oscars producer thought, 'Oh, he's not light-hearted enough?” So, what did you get instead? Will Smith."
Penn also expressed his unfiltered thought on not giving Ukrainain President the air time to speak speak during the ceremony at the awards. Smith, who would win a best actor Oscar later in the night for his leading role in the Williams family tennis biopic King Richard, stormed the stage and attacked Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about wiping his behind.
"I'm not familiar with Will Smith. I met him once," Penn explained in the interview to the magazine, adding, "When I met him, he seemed very nice”.
Penn, 63, was sentenced to 33 days in county jail in June 1987 for punching an extra on a movie set and reckless driving, and in 2010 received a 90-day suspended sentence and $50 fine for assaulting two journalists attempting to photograph him and then-wife Madonna, as well as three years of probation and 300 hours of community service after another run-in with a photographer.
On the night of the incident, Smith jumped up from his seat and smacked Rock across the face after the comedian made a joke about Pinkett Smith's shaved head, which, Rock later admitted, he was unaware was due to the singer-actress' struggle with alopecia, an autoimmune disorder that can cause hair loss and balding.
Smith apologized for his conduct during his Oscar acceptance speech, without mentioning Rock, and the comedian later declined to seek charges. Smith withdrew from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences after a more official apology, which barred him from attending any Academy events for 10 years.
Penn, who won best actor Oscars for Mystic River (2003) and Milk (2008), also said in the interview, "Will Smith would never leave that chair to participate in stupid violence. It would never have happened."
