Featured Image Credit: Alamy/ABC
Topics: Oscars, Will Smith, Twitter
Poppy Bilderbeck
Little Britain star and British comedian Matt Lucas has addressed the Oscars controversy surrounding Chris Rock, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith.
Last night, Smith didn't just take home the Best Actor Oscars award, but he also created a social media storm after he leapt up on stage in defence of his wife.
While presenting, Rock made a 'GI Jane 2' joke about Pinkett Smith, referring to her shaved head - which is a result of a skin condition she has called alopecia.
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Smith not only verbally condemned Rock from his seat but seemingly whacked him on stage - a move which has left many divided, including the likes of Matt Lucas.
At first, Smith appeared to laugh at Rock's joke about Pinkett Smith, however upon turning and seeing his wife's eye roll, the Men in Black actor ran to the stage in Pinkett Smith's honour and appeared to slap Rock square in the face.
And now, Lucas has weighed in on the situation as a comedian who has both alopecia and a controversial sense of humour.
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The 48-year-old reflected: "I have alopecia AND I'm a comedian who sometimes gets it wrong. I have no idea what I'm supposed to think about last night."
Twitter users were quick to flood to the comments in debate, with one reflecting that they thought both the violence and joke were 'uncalled for'.
"It's ok to not have a 'side' and condone (or support) both parties," one person wrote, whole another said: "I have hair loss, constantly made fun of by people, it hurts but ultimately I don’t go around slapping anyone.
"What was more disturbing is that no one checked to see if Chris Rock was ok - speaks volumes about Hollywood elite."
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"No one said it was funny. The argument is about whether assaulting a comedian on stage for an insensitive joke is justified (it isn't). If Will Smith wasn't rich and famous he absolutely would not have gotten away with it," a third commented.
Similarly to Lucas, other Oscars viewers had no clue what to think about the run-in either, however their confusion was surrounding whether or not the hit was even real.
American comedian Kevin T Porter has seemingly confirmed that the altercation was nothing more than a skit after he claimed to have written Rock's joke himself.
However, Smith's apology upon accepting his award, reflection on Denzel Washington's advice and the Academy and LAPD's responses, suggest that the beef certainly was real.