Trevor Noah Jokes What The Academy Got Wrong About Will Smith's Oscars Punishment

Weeks later and people are still talking about Will Smith's Oscar slap. As most people already know, the "Independence Day" actor stormed on stage during the 2022 Oscars broadcast to slap presenter Chris Rock after Rock told a joke about Will's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. The comedian compared Jada's buzzed hair to Demi Moore's character in "G.I. Jane." Will took issue with it because Jada suffers from a condition called alopecia, which causes hair loss.

The day after the viral moment, Will shared a lengthy post on Instagram to apologize for his actions. "Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive," he wrote on March 28. "My behavior at last night's Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable." Not too long after, the disgraced star announced his resignation from the Academy. On April 8, the Academy banned the Oscar-winner from attending the show for ten years. "The 94th Oscars were meant to be a celebration of the many individuals in our community who did incredible work this past year; however, those moments were overshadowed by the unacceptable and harmful behavior we saw Mr. Smith exhibit on stage," the organization wrote in a scathing statement, per The Hollywood Reporter.

Since the fallout, Will has received some support from family members, especially Jaden Smith. However, he's also become the butt of a lot of jokes. James Corden was one of the first comedians to poke fun at the incident with a spin on Encanto's hit "We Don't Talk About Bruno," renamed, "We Don't Talk About Jada." Trevor Noah also gave his two-cents.

Trevor Noah is the latest person to poke fun at Will Smith's Oscar punishment. During his monologue on "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah," the star shared his initial reaction to Will's ten-year ban from the Oscars, thinking it was pretty harsh. But the more he let it soak in, the more he changed his tune. "I got into the details, and I realized he gets to keep his Oscar, and he can still win Oscars even though he's banned," he said, adding that it didn't seem like much of a punishment. "This is a favor," Noah said, stating that it's nice Will won't have to get all dressed up to go to a ceremony just to "sit through a bunch of boring awards."

He also shared the one thing he believed the Academy got wrong about Will's punishment. ​​"I think [the Academy] should've at least consulted Chris Rock before choosing the punishment," Noah quipped. "Because if Will were still going to the Oscars, that's at least four hours where Chris Rock knows where he is. Now, he could be anywhere." He also joked that the Academy should nix the music to urge award winners to wrap up their speech and hire Will to scare them off instead.

Noah is not the only celebrity who has joked that Smith got off lightly with his punishment. During an episode of "Saturday Night Live," Colin Jost also said that Will got off too easy.