James Corden Says Will Smith Can’t Take A Joke, Praises Chris Rock
While hosting The Late Late Show with James Corden Monday night (March 28), James Corden shouted out Chris Rock for keeping his cool when Will Smith slapped him across the face onstage at the Oscars.
After the comedian made a joke about Will's wife Jada Pinkett Smith's alopecia condition, Will, 53 told Chris, 57, “Keep my wife’s name out your f—ing mouth!” Smith has since apologized to Chris Rock on his Instagram account last night.
Joking about what went down at the Academy Awards, Corden, 43, began, “I mean, the whole incident threw me off in a huge way, also completely ruined my chances in the Oscar pool. I had Dame Judi Dench smacking Woody Harrelson.”
On a serious note, the host continued, “Seriously though, I applaud Chris Rock for recovering, keeping the show moving. It was an incredibly dignified response. I’ll say this: Will Smith can’t take a joke, Chris Rock can take a punch. A steel jaw. Unbelievable!”
In a scripted segment on the late-night show, Corden met with his producers to map out what Monday’s episode would look like. During the spot, the host disagreed with his team on how they’d recap the Oscars and Smith smacking Rock. “James, we have to at least acknowledge [the incident],” one producer began, before Corden interjected by bursting into song.
“We don’t talk about Jada, no, no, no,” he sang, parodying the tune “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Encanto (which won for Best Animated Film) with a crew of dancers behind him.
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