Sunday's Academy Awards started out with the kind of great musical performances "that make you feel like you're having a moment with all of America," Amber Ruffin said on Monday's Late Night. "And then, here's a sentence we will say for the rest of our lives: 'Will Smith slapped Chris Rock.'" She melodramatically described the the slap and its personal aftermath, but then "I scrolled Twitter and I read jokes and think pieces and opinions about it, and while I felt like I had seen something horrible and private that made me feel great shame, I found out everyone in America felt the same way I did."
"America may be divided, but it was kind of nice for all of us to come together and say 'Holy crap!' at the same time," Jimmy Fallon said on The Tonight Show. "Do you guys remember a few years ago, when the Oscars literally announced the wrong winner for Best Picture? It turns out that was child's play."
Jimmy Kimmel, who was hosting the Oscars when La La Land was mistakenly declared Best Picture, spent his entire monologue on Will Smith and Chris Rock, and he showed the moment in its entirety. "It was so shocking," he said on Kimmel Live. "This was the Hollywood version of your drunk uncle starting a fight, ruining the wedding, and then standing up and giving a long toast to the bride and groom."
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"Obviously Chris Rock did not deserve to be slapped in the face for a joke," Kimmel said. "Will's point of view is he's defending his wife, and that's a tough position to be in because it's damned if you do, Ted Cruz if you don't. And he probably wishes he had one of those Men in Black memory erasers right now."
The Late Show imagined that the Men in Black memory eraser explained Will Smith's standing ovation.
"Let me say something here as an objective observer: It's never okay to punch a comedian," Stephen Colbert deadpanned on The Late Show. "Will Smith was offended by the joke and wanted to stand up for his wife. Fine. Challenge Chris Rock to a duel, or if you really want to hurt a comedian, don't laugh. That hurts way more than a punch, I promise you."
"Chris is not pressing any charges, but of course this is Hollywood and there are rules," Colbert said. "You can't just storm a stage, physically assault someone on camera, and then go back to your seat. There have to be consequences, like winning the Oscar for Best Actor and receiving a standing ovation, then partying all night. Who says Hollywood sends a bad message to our kids?"
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