The 2023 Oscars made a joke about Will Smith’s slap of Chris Rock at last year’s Oscars at the start of the show during Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue. Is Will Smith going to the Oscars 2023?
You can take the slap out of the Oscars (or Will Smith out of the Academy), but you can’t take the slap Jokes out of the Oscars, even — maybe especially — at the 2023 Oscars.
Host Jimmy Kimmel opened the show with a monologue that included a joke about the slap incident from the 2022 Oscars. It started mild — “Five Irish actors are nominated tonight, which means the odds of another fight on stage just went way up” — but got more elaborate as the monologue went on.
“If anyone in this theater commits an act of violence during this show, you will be awarded the Oscars for Best Actor and be permitted to give a 19-minute speech,” Kimmel said toward the end of the opening.
