Trevor Noah Sneaks In An Oscars Slap Grammys Joke When Viewers Weren't Expecting It
In case you were hoping all had been forgiven and forgotten regarding the slap seen 'round the world at the 2022 Oscars, think again.
Comedian and host Trevor Noah hit the ground running during his opening monologue at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards, cracking jokes left and right. "Welcome everybody to the 64th annual Grammy awards. We made it, people. We made it" he began. "Oh man, it's been a long time coming and it has been delayed but we are officially here. Better late than never. And look at this room. This is a party. Everyone's hanging out. We've got the tables. We're in Vegas. Look at this. People are doing shots. I mean last year people were doing shots but it was more Moderna and Pfizer. This time we're back in the mix," he joked.
But it's what Noah slid in towards the end of the monologue that has everyone talking...
Trevor Noah vows that the Grammys will be 'keeping people's names out of our mouths'
The 2022 Grammys isn't a regular award show. It's a cool award show.
"Don't even think of it as an awards show," host Trevor Noah instructed audience members. "It's a concert where we are giving out awards, we will be listening to music, dancing, singing, keeping people's names out of our mouths and we are going to give people awards all throughout the night. So let's get straight into it," he said referring to the Oscars debacle. SHOTS FIRED. WE REPEAT SHOTS FIRED.
As one can imagine, following Noah's nod to the Will Smith and Chris Rock of it all, Twitter lit up like the night sky on the Fourth of July. "LMAO yo why trevor noah kick off the grammy's with 'and we're gonna keep people's names out of our mouth/ #TheGrammys" one user tweeted. Meanwhile, another wrote, "'...We're going to be keeping peoples names out of our mouth.' Perfectly understated by Grammy host Trevor Noah." Godspeed, Noah!
The slap seeped into the Oscars
It wasn't just Trevor Noah who slipped in a quip about Will Smith's infamous Oscars slap during music's biggest night, as Hollywood was still reeling from the incident seen around the world the week before as the A-Listers gathered together on April 3 for the Grammys. Questlove also addressed the drama while presenting the award for Song of the Year, quipping (via E! News), "Alright, I am going to present this award and I trust that you people will stay 500 feet away from me. And you know, this is now a special moment for someone. And we're going to make a memory for them tonight." As you may or may not remember — let's be honest, the moment was a little overshadowed — Questlove actually won an Oscar for Outstanding Documentary Feature during the March 27 ceremony.
Ironically, though, The Roots frontman actually previously shared his desire that people would stop talking about the incident. Questlove seemingly referenced it in a cryptic tweet shared on April 1, asking, "Can we FINNNNNNNALY stop talking about it?"
That wasn't all the Will moments at the Grammys, though. LeVar Burton also referenced the infamous incident during the premiere show, quipping (via New York Post), "So I need to caution everybody: Remain in your seats and keep your hands to yourself. Alright?" Nate Bargatze then strolled on stage in a helmet, joking, "They said comedians have to wear these now at award shows during their joke parts."
Will Smith has apologized
Will Smith did not attend the 2022 Grammys, but has won four of the prestigious music awards and received eight nominations in his time. The star has also seemingly been absent from uploading to his Instagram account since he sent out a somewhat lengthy apology on March 28, in which he explicitly apologized to Chris Rock, the Academy, his peers, and all those who watched the incident go down. "I deeply regret that my behavior has stained what has been an otherwise gorgeous journey for all of us," he finished off his social media message, noting that he's a "work in progress."
It's not yet clear exactly what punishment will befall on Will, though he resigned from the Academy on April 1 amid disciplinary proceedings. "We have received and accepted Mr. Will Smith's immediate resignation from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences," a statement from Academy president David Rubin read, per The Hollywood Reporter. "We will continue to move forward with our disciplinary proceedings against Mr. Smith for violations of the Academy's Standards of Conduct, in advance of our next scheduled board meeting on April 18."
As for Chris Rock, we know he has not yet pressed charges against the former "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" star, but Rock did break his silence on the whole thing during a stand-up show on March 30.