Host Wanda Sykes slams Academy for letting Will Smith accept Oscar: ‘It was gross’

Host Wanda Sykes slams Academy for letting Will Smith accept Oscar: ‘It was gross’

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Wanda Sykes called out the Academy for allowing Will Smith to stay at the Oscars after he slapped Chris Rock on stage.

Sykes, who served as a co-host for the award show Sunday night, recalled her version of events during a preview of Thursday’s episode of “The Ellen Show.”

The actress revealed she had just introduced Rock and was in the middle of changing into her pajamas for a later bit when the slap happened. As she returned to watch Rock present an Oscar, she told Ellen DeGeneres Smith was walking back to his seat and then started cursing.

“I just felt so awful for my friend Chris,” she told DeGeneres.

Wanda Sykes criticized the Academy for letting Will Smith accept his Oscar on Sunday night after slapping Chris Rock across the face on stage.

CHRIS ROCK SPOTTED FOR FIRST TIME SINCE NIGHT OF WILL SMITH’S OSCARS SLAP

“It was sickening. It was absolutely – I physically felt ill, and I’m still a little traumatized by it,” Sykes added.

Sykes went on to criticize the Academy for not escorting Smith out of the Dolby Theater and letting him accept his Oscar for best actor. Smith took home the award for his role in “King Richard.”

“For them to let [Will Smith] 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 the building and that’s it. But 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,'” Sykes admitted, which got laughs from the studio audience and applause from DeGeneres.

Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes close out the Oscars ceremony in their pajamas on Sunday night.

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The “Bad Moms” actress noted that nobody had apologized to Sykes, who hosted alongside Regina Hall and Amy Schumer.

“I know he apologized to Chris but I believe that we were the hosts, right? So … this is our house, we’re inviting you in, we’re hosting, we’re going to take care of y’all tonight, make sure you have a good time. And no one has apologized to us. And we worked really hard to put that show together.”

“The industry itself, I’m like, ‘What the hell is this?'”

Despite being the one that was hit, Sykes told DeGeneres that Rock actually apologized to her at Guy Oseary’s Oscars after party.

“As soon as I walked up to him, the first thing he said was ‘I am so sorry.’ And I’m like, ‘Why are you apologizing?'”

“He was like, ‘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’ because that’s who Chris is.”

“Chris is a sweet guy,” DeGeneres added.

Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, Chris Rock

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Since Sunday night, the Academy has condemned Smith’s actions and launched a formal review of the incident. A board of governors meeting was scheduled for Wednesday evening, although it is unclear if a decision will be made regarding the Smith-Rock incident.