Whoopi Goldberg Says Why Will Smith Wasn’t Ejected From Oscars

After media reports came out today suggesting Oscar producers did not formally request that Will Smith leave the ceremony after slapping Chris Rock, or at the least gave Smith mixed messages about the request, Academy’s Board of Governors member Whoopi Goldberg insisted on today’s The View, “He actually was. He was asked to leave.”

Goldberg, who was not present at the Oscar ceremony and cautioned that she was not speaking for the Board, said today “but there are things that I do know.”

Watch the View segment below.

When pressed by some of her View co-hosts as to why Smith was asked to leave rather than told to leave, she speculated about what that scenario would look like: “They come back from back from break, now if [Smith] is in some sort of state and he’s struggling and you’re trying to get him out the door and it’s on camera.” She added that Oscar producers and organizers even considered the possibility that Smith was having “a manic moment, because that’s not what he’s known for, smacking people and stuff.”

On a View episode earlier this week, Goldberg said she supported producer Will Packer’s decision not to eject Smith.

When conservative guest co-host Tara Setmayer condemned the ceremony audience for giving Smith a standing ovation after his King Richard acceptance speech, Goldberg said, “Now just take a minute – do you really think the audience was applauding him hitting Chris Rock? I think it was just people got up and did dumb stuff because they thought OK everybody is up.”

At another point, Goldberg said about the standing ovation, “You’re up before you even know you’ve done something stupid.”

CHRIS ROCK SAYS HE’S STILL “PROCESSING WHAT HAPPENED”: The comedian broke his silence on what happened between him and Will Smith at the #Oscars as the Academy says Smith refused to leave after the altercation – #TheView co-hosts and @TaraSetmayer react. https://t.co/e6mZPfg8Kd pic.twitter.com/AEG1jm7xIX

— The View (@TheView) March 31, 2022