‘SNL’ Mocks Infamous Oscars Slap From Will Smith’s Perspective In Seat Filler Sketch

It was probably inevitable — Saturday Night Live did its own interpretation of the altercation between Will Smith and Chris Rock at the Oscars. The skit did not show the slap, instead focusing on Will Smith, played by Chris Redd, who is having a conversation with a seat filler, played by host Jerrod Carmichael, during Chris Rock’s speech.

The chat starts with the seat filler expressing his admiration for “my hero” Smith, telling the Hollywood star that The Pursuit of Happyness inspired him and “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit” is his ringtone and asking for a selfie, to which Redd’s Smith readily obliges. As he is taking in his fan’s compliments and the seat filler gets his phone ready for the selfie, Redd’s Smith says “I’ll be right back, man” and walks off. A slap is heard (but not seen) as the admiration on seat filler’s face turns to horror.

While Redd’s Smith returns to his seat as if nothing had happened and carries on with the small talk in between shouts of the now infamous line to Rock, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f*cking mouth,” Carmichael’s seat filler would have none of that. He no longer wants to take the selfie, either.

A fellow seat filler, played by Kyle Mooney, joins, having missed the attack and, as he catches up quickly on the events from Twitter, he and his buddy grow increasingly uncomfortable as Redd’s Smith continues to engage them in a conversation and even tries out on them a line he had prepared for his Best Actor speech, “Richard Williams was a fierce protector of his family.”

When the King Richard star asks the guys, “What else should I say?”, Mooney replies. “Love makes you do crazy things.” Redd’s Smith likes the suggestion and offers to credit the author, an honor the seat filler declines.

“The last couple of years have been crazy with Covid, Zoom meetings, Red Table Talk,” Redd’s Smith says, a reference to the talk show hosted by Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

“Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” starts playing, and Redd’s Smith gets up to dance, recreating the real Will Smith’s moves at a post-Oscar party that were captured on video.

“Everything’s normal y’all!,” Redd’s Smith yells.

Watch the skit above.

In one of the most shocking moments in Academy Awards history, Oscar nominee (and eventual winner) Smith walked on stage and slapped presenter Rock after the comedian had directed a joke at Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

Smith subsequently addressed the altercation in his Best Actor acceptance speech, in which he apologized to the Academy and his fellow nominees but not to Rock. Smith followed up with a written apology to Rock on Instagram on Monday. Smith has since resigned from the Academy as he was facing a suspension or expulsion.