American comedian Rob Schneider has brutally slammed actor Will Smith in a scathing interview, labelling the Hollywood star a ‘liar’ and an ‘a**hole’.
The 60-year-old actor and comedy legend appeared on KIIS FM’s Kyle & Jackie O Show on Wednesday morning where he didn’t hold back on the Oscar winner two years after he slapped fellow comedian Chris Rock on stage at the 94th Academy Awards.
When co-host Kyle Sandilands asked Schneider if he reached out to close friend Rock, 59, after the incident, the funnyman proceeded to unleash a five-minute rant against Smith, 55.
‘Will Smith is a twat,’ he began. ‘Will Smith has been hiding the fact of who he really is and it was exposed that night that he’s really an a**hole.’
‘But it’s a deep, dark thing to do that in front of all those people and to a really great legendary comedian [Chris Rock] who’s literally the best comedian of our generation. You wouldn’t have this whole wave of comedy that came after if it wasn’t for Chris Rock. He’s kicked open the doors.
American comedian Rob Schneider (pictured) brutally slammed actor Will Smith in a scathing interview, labelling the Hollywood star a ‘liar’ and an ‘a**hole’ on The Kyle & Jackie O Show
‘But I wasn’t allowed to say anything at that time because we were part of the committee that’s supposed to punish him.
‘He’s a liar. A complete, utter fraud. And it was exposed in that time.’
Schneider weighed in on the moment Smith stormed the stage after Rock made a joke about the actor’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
‘Will is a douchebag. The thing is that’s how politically correct the Academy is. That they were so cowardly. Because if I would have done that, they would have been hauled off to prison, but because they were so worried about being racist or whatever, they were like … “We can’t offend”,’ he continued.
‘But the point is, violence is what it is. And whether the colour of your skin or your religion, it doesn’t matter if you commit a crime in front of other people, you get hauled out of there.’
Schneider didn’t hold back, unleashing on Smith two years after he slapped fellow comedian Chris Rock on stage at the 94th Academy Awards. Pictured: Will Smith slaps Chris Rock onstage at the 2022 Oscars
‘Will Smith is a twat,’ Schneider said. ‘Will Smith has been hiding the fact of who he really is and it was exposed that night that he’s really an a**hole’
Schneider revealed he didn’t attend or watch the ceremony and therefore didn’t witness the slap in real time.
The actor was directing a film in Mexico when he heard from his assistant director that his friend Rock had been assaulted on stage.
‘I was in a car and my assistant director, she looked at me and she said, “Ugh”. I said, “What happened?” and she said, “Chris Rock just got slapped by Will Smith”. I said “Get out of here. It didn’t happen”. I made the phone calls and it did happen,’ he recalled.
‘[Rock] didn’t want to talk to anybody. I don’t blame him. But it took him a while to get to where he could react to it because it was a lot. And he’s a very sensitive, great guy and he’s literally a genius. And so just trying to figure out the right way at the right timing … because I would have said something. I’m an idiot, I would have … tried to kick back.’
In 2022, at the time of the slap, Schneider took to X and wrote: ‘There’s never an excuse for violence. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever.’
It’s been two years since the infamous Oscar slap, which occurred after comedian Chris Rock made a lighthearted joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s appearance, prompting Will to make his way to the stage, slap the presenter and say ‘keep my wife’s name out of your f**king mouth.’
Later in the evening, during his acceptance speech for winning the Best Actor Oscar for his role as tennis patriarch Richard Williams in King Richard, Smith apologised to the Academy and other nominees, but made no reference to Rock.
It’s been two years since the infamous Oscar slap, which occurred after comedian Chris Rock made a lighthearted joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s appearance, prompting Will to make his way to the stage, slap the presenter and say ‘keep my wife’s name out of your f**king mouth’
Later in the evening, during his acceptance speech for winning the Best Actor Oscar for his role as tennis patriarch Richard Williams in King Richard, Smith apologised to the Academy and other nominees, but made no reference to Rock
Smith subsequently apologised on multiple occasions over the incident, and resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ahead of being issued a 10-year ban from the Oscars.
Despite an unforgiving news cycle and heavy criticism for his behaviour, Will Smith remains an uncontested A-Lister, who will bring in $25million per project on the upcoming Bad Boys 4, and Netflix’s Fast and Loose.
Jada Pinkett Smith recently released a memoir, which revealed a seven-year separation from her husband.
The Kyle & Jackie O Show can be heard from 6am to 10am on KIIS 1065 in Sydney and KIIS 101.1 in Melbourne, or listen on the iHeartRadio App.
