OJ Simpson says Will Smith was ‘wrong’ to smack Chris Rock over comedian’s ‘semi-unfunny’ joke at Oscars
The controversial former NFL player said he “understood the feeling” of being taunted by comedians, adding that he’s occasionally “wanted to hit a few of these guys.”
It comes as discourse rages over the altercation at the 94th Academy Awards in which Best Actor winner Smith slapped Rock in the face over a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
In a video posted online, Simpson opened up about the incident, saying: “It was unfortunate, I think Will was wrong.
“I got the feeling, I’ve been through a lot of crap in my life.
“When I was raising two young kids, every comedian in the country had an OJ routine and I don’t think I wouldn’t want to smack a few of these guys.”
He continued, “But you have to accept that’s human, I didn’t even find it that egregious … it was a halfway funny joke.”
Simpson added that if he had done something similar in front of “a billion people watching around the world,” he would have been in prison for life.
It comes as discourse rages over the altercation at the 94th Academy Awards in which Best Actor winner Smith slapped Rock in the face (Chris Pizzello/AP)
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Simpson was acquitted of the 1995 murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her boyfriend Ron Goldman.
He was represented at the trial by Robert Kardashian, reality star Kim Kardashian’s father.
He was later jailed after an armed robbery in Las Vegas in 2007 and served a lengthy sentence before being released in 2017.
https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/movies/oj-simpson-says-will-smith-was-wrong-to-hit-chris-rock-over-semi-unfunny-joke-41502031.html OJ Simpson says Will Smith wrongly smacked Chris Rock over ‘semi-unfunny’ joke