Chris Rock wasn't the only comedian to face some ugly blowback over an Oscars joke.
Amy Schumer revealed on The Howard Stern Show she received death threats over a joke she made while co-hosting this year's Academy Awards. The bit involved Schumer explaining to the audience what seat fillers are, jokingly pretending to think Kirsten Dunst was one and escorting her from her chair.
"They were like, 'Who do you think you are to disrespect Kirsten Dunst like that?'" Schumer said. "The Secret Service, the LAPD, [reached out] because [the death threats] were that serious and that many. They called me and they were like, 'Did you make fun of Kirsten Dunst at the Oscars?'"
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Latest Videos FromThe Week
After the joke sparked backlash online, Schumer previously explained this was a scripted bit that Dunst was in on. In fact, Schumer told Howard Stern she reached out to people she joked about to get their approval first, including having Leonardo DiCaprio sign off on a joke about him dating younger women. She also said she told Will Smith she would be making a joke about his movie King Richard.
Smith would later infamously slap comedian Chris Rock at the show over a joke about his wife, and Schumer told Stern that when she was contacted about the death threats, her reaction was, "Oh, I think you have the wrong number, this is Amy, not Will [Smith] … Not that I want Will to get death threats, but the misogyny is unbelievable."
