Jim Carrey grabbed Alicia Silverstone by the face and pulled her in for a kiss when she presented him with the award.
Jim Carrey grabbed Alicia Silverstone by the face and pulled her in for a kiss when she presented him with the award.
Jim Carrey's take on Will Smith's stunning slap has been widely applauded in the wash-up of Monday's chaotic Oscars ceremony.
But newly unearthed footage from Carrey's past awards show antics casts doubt over his authority on the matter.
The comedy actor yesterday said he was "sickened" by the events of Monday's Oscars ceremony, asserting that Smith should have been arrested and sued for storming the stage and slapping Chris Rock over a joke he cracked about Jada Pinkett Smith.
Maintaining he wished no ill will toward Smith, Carrey called the slap "selfish" and said it "cast a pall over everybody's shining moment".
Hours after wading into the hot topic, however, footage of a night he himself might have been accused of "casting a pall over" has begun to circulate on Twitter.
A clip from the 1997 MTV Movie Awards sees a spritely then-35-year-old Carrey appearing to force a kiss on Alicia Silverstone, then-19, grabbing the teenage actress by the face as he accepted the award for best comedic performance for Cable Guy.
In the full clip, posted to pop culture account Velvet Coke in 2017, Carrey is then seen reciting lyrics from George Thorogood & The Destroyers song Bad to the Bone into the microphone then belching as Silverstone stands awkwardly behind him.
Further video from the same night portrays Carrey attempting to plant another unwanted kiss, this time on Smith himself, who is seen laughing and pushing the Liar Liar star away by the throat to escape his outstretched tongue.
— may tricks 🐸🍀 (check pinned) (@thisisvoided) March 29, 2022
While some have suggested the second kiss may have been a pre-planned bit, Silverstone was reportedly "humiliated", and Carrey is understood to have apologised backstage.
It comes after Carrey, now 60, slammed Smith's Oscars conduct during an interview with US host Gayle King on CBS Mornings.
"I was sickened. I was sickened by the standing ovation," Carrey said, as reported by the New York Post.
He was referring to the applause Smith received after scooping best actor for his role in King Richard shortly after the slap.
Smith addressed the incident in his acceptance speech, saying in his defence that "love will make you do crazy things", and apologising to the Academy.
Will Smith, right, hits presenter Chris Rock on stage at the Oscars. Photo / AP
He has since apologised to Rock in a statement on social media.
"Hollywood is just spineless en masse and it really felt like this is a really clear indication that we aren't the cool club anymore," Carrey said of the initial reaction to Smith's outburst, adding that he should have faced immediate repercussions.
"I'd have announced this morning that I was suing Will for 200 million dollars because that video is going to be there forever, it's going to be ubiquitous.
"That insult is gonna last a very long time," he continued.
"If you want to yell from the audience and show disapproval or say something on Twitter [that's OK, but] you do not have the right to walk up onstage and smack somebody in the face 'cuz they said words."
He later made note of his respect for the I Am Legend star.
"I wish him the best, I really do … He's done great things. But that was not a good moment. It cast a pall over everybody's shining moment," the Liar Liar star declared. "It was such a selfish moment that cast a pall over the whole thing."
The Academy has said it is investigating the incident in a "formal review" that will "explore further action and consequences."
