Will Smith's shocking outburst at the 2022 Oscars reminded Howard Stern of former President Donald Trump.
Stern slammed Smith on his show Monday after the actor slapped comedian Chris Rock at the Academy Awards.
"Where's security?" Stern asked, per Mediaite. "This is a live television event. Not one person came out because he's Will Smith. This is how Trump gets away with s--t. Will Smith and Trump are the same guy."
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Smith slapped Rock after the comedian made a joke about the King Richard star's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. "Keep my wife's name out of your f--king mouth," Smith shouted. He later won the Oscar for Best Actor. In his acceptance speech, Smith alluded to the slap and apologized to the Academy, but not to Rock.
Stern slammed Smith for the outburst, telling him to "calm your f--king a-- down" and describing him as a "guy with real issues," adding, "That's crazy when you can't contain yourself." He also defended Rock, saying the joke he told about Smith's wife was "hardly an insulting" one, per Page Six.
"Here's Hollywood that's so outraged by every little thing," Stern said. "Not one person got up and said, hold on, we got an out of control situation here. How this guy was allowed to sit there for the rest of the awards, and he's laughing it up and having a good time with his wife. What he did was he just assaulted Chris Rock."
Smith faced criticism from numerous commentators on Monday, with The View co-host Sunny Hostin saying Rock "deserved an apology" from the actor. "I think that Will was immature, I think he was childish, and I think he was violent," she said, adding it was an example of "toxic masculinity."
But Tiffany Haddish defended Smith, telling People, "It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen because it made me believe that there are still men out there that love and care about their women, their wives."
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