Wanda Sykes Recounts Her Version of Will Smith Events, Wants an Apology

Wanda Sykes is asking for an apology.

During the 2022 Oscars on Sunday night (March 27), Chris Rock was presenting an award and made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith. After she seemed upset by the joke, Will Smith jumped on stage and slapped Chris in the face, then returned to his seat and shouted profanities at him.

Wanda, who was a co-host for the award show along with Regina Hall and Amy Schumer, discussed the incident during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

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“First of all, I want to say how great a job you did, Amy did, Regina did,” Ellen began. “It’s a big deal, it’s a bucket list when you get to host the Oscars. And for something to happen like what happened with Will and Chris, it takes away from so many things.”

The host then asked what Wanda was doing when the confrontation happened.

“I think we had finished the bit and I guess I was about to change to get into PJs. Regina and I, we had just introduced Chris from our bit, so I ran to my trailer because I wanted to watch him,” she said.

“I was getting changed and watching him,” Wanda continued. “Then the moment I went from my trailer — because I wanted to be in the house to watch — from that moment to when I got to the monitor backstage, I just saw Will leaving the stage and everything was quiet. I was like, ‘What happened? What happened?’ And everybody was like, ‘Oh my god.’ And then Will just starts cursing from his seat. And I was just like, ‘Is this really happening?’”

She added, “And then someone showed me on the video and said, ‘Yeah, he smacked Chris.’ And I just felt so awful for my friend Chris. It was sickening. I physically felt ill. I’m still a little traumatized by it. And for them to let him stay in that room and enjoy the rest of the show and accept his award, I was like, ‘How gross is this? This is just the wrong message.’ You assault somebody, you get escorted out of the building and that’s it. For them to let him continue, I thought it was gross.”

“I wanted to be able to run out after he won and say, ‘Unfortunately Will couldn’t be here tonight,’” the comedian joked.

While Will has since apologized for his actions, Wanda said she’s still waiting for an apology of her own.

She explained, “I know he apologized to Chris but I believe… We were the hosts. This is our house, we’re inviting you in, we’re going to take care of y’all tonight and make sure you have a good time. And no one has apologized to us. And we worked really hard to put that show together. I’m like, with the industry itself, like, ‘What the hell is this?’”

Ellen went on to say that Will was seemingly rewarded for his behavior. Wanda agreed and said that Chris had actually apologized to her for the shocking moment moment.

“I hope he doesn’t mind me saying this but I saw Chris at Guy’s party and as soon as I walked up to him, the first thing he said was, ‘I’m so sorry.’ I said, ‘Why are you apologizing?’ And he said, ‘It was supposed to be your night, you and Amy and Regina, y’all were doing such a great job. I’m so sorry this is now going to be about this,’” she recalled. “That’s who Chris is.”

See the full interview, which is set to air on Thursday, April 7, down below.

Wanda‘s co-host Amy Schumer also released a statement earlier today and you can see what she wrote here.