Michael Che is “disappointed” in the Academy for allowing Will Smith to slap Chris Rock during Sunday’s 2022 Oscars ceremony.
“Look im not tryna make fun of hollywood,” the “Saturday Night Live” star wrote in a statement shared to Instagram on Tuesday.
“Im just saying, im frankly disappointed that the academy would just let will smith PHYSICALLY ATTACK a man, onstage, just because he didnt like a joke!”
During the 94th Academy Awards, Smith, 53, rushed the stage and hit Rock, 57, in the face for making a bald joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, who suffers from alopecia.
The actor then returned to his seat and twice shouted at the comedian, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f–king mouth.”
Moments later, Smith won Best Actor for his starring role in “King Richard” and was met with applause.
“After that childish overreaction, they hand this guy a trophy?!” an appalled Che, 38, continued in his Instagram post. “And then they all gave him a STANDING OVATION?!”
The comedian said that it felt like he was watching the Academy and “all” of Hollywood reward Smith “for being dramatic,” adding, “And thats wrong.”
Jim Carrey admitted he felt the same way – and intentionally put Hollywood on blast.
“You do not have the right to walk up on stage and smack somebody in the face ’cause they said words,” the actor told CBS News’ Gayle King on Monday, saying he was “sickened by the standing ovation.”
He added, “I felt like Hollywood is just spineless en masse.”
Carrey said that had he been in Rock’s shoes, he would have “announced this morning that I was suing Will for $200 million.”
Following backlash, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences launched a “formal review” into the incident.
The organization intends to “explore further action and consequences in accordance with our Bylaws, Standards of Conduct and California law.”