SNL guest host Jerrod Carmichael (left) played an Oscars seat filler in the sketch. Photo / SNL
SNL guest host Jerrod Carmichael (left) played an Oscars seat filler in the sketch. Photo / SNL
US comedy sketch show Saturday Night Live brutally mocked Will Smith after he slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars over a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
In a skit over the weekend, a seat filler is seen gushing over Will Smith after realising it was his moment to meet one of his heroes.
Jerrod Carmichael, who plays the seat filler, strikes up a friendly conversation with Smith, who is played by Chris Redd.
The seat filler is seen asking Smith for a selfie when the audio cuts to Chris Rock's G.I. Jane 2 joke about Jada.
As he leans in for a selfie, Smith responds: "Hey, I'll be right back man".
He is seen walking out of frame before a thunderous slapping sound can be heard.
Despite this, the actor playing Smith returns to his seat where the seat filler continues to be star-struck and ignores what happens.
SNL guest host Jerrod Carmichael (left) played an Oscars seat filler in the sketch. Photo / SNL
Smith stops the conversation to yell the now-infamous "Keep my wife's name out your f***ing mouth!" He smiles and says, "Man, I love the Oscars, man," to the filler, before again shouting the phrase.
Another seat filler, Kyle Mooney, then sits down after a trip to the bathroom, having missed the slap.
"Oh my God, we're right next to Will Smith. I got to tweet this. Whoa, and he's trending," he says, pulling out his phone and apparently seeing the clip. "Oh my god," he says, appalled.
Smith tries to introduce himself and keep up the casual conversation but both fillers are clearly scared of the actor.
"Richard Williams was a fierce protector of his family," Smith suddenly yells, referencing the role he played that won him the Oscar for Best Actor. "I'm going to say that in my speech, man," he tells the seat fillers.
Before the skit, Carmichael, in his opening dialogue, joked about the controversy and how it has gone global.
"Isn't it kind of crazy – it feels like we've been talking about it for so long," he said. "This is going to blow your mind – can you believe it's been six days? This happened a week ago. Doesn't it feel like it happened years ago? Like doesn't it feel like it happened when we were all in high school?
"It happened on Sunday. It's Saturday, bro.
"But Friday, I made a vow to myself that I would never ever talk about it again. Then Lorne [Michaels] came into my dressing room. He was like, 'I think you need to talk about it.' He said the nation needs to heal," he said to laughter from the crowd.
The Weekend Update duo of Michael Che and Colin Jost also couldn't help joking about it, spending nearly five minutes of their segment on the incident.
"Will Smith, for those of you who don't know, walked on stage during the Academy Awards and slapped Chris Rock after he made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, which I think was a disgraceful act that sets a terrible precedent for having to defend your wife at awards shows," Jost said.
"I think we should just acknowledge that that is one of the craziest things we will ever see in our lives. It's truly like the Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction, but if Janet's nipple slapped Timberlake," Jost joked.
