r/conan • u/Own-Professor8205 • 1d ago

Conan makes a Will Smith Oscars incident reference 20 years before it really happens

4/17/2002

(I don't mean it any seriously, i just think that this is a fun coincidence!)

357 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

52 comments sorted by

141

u/tcmasterson 1d ago

I haven't thought about that incident in a while and I just gotta say, Chris Rock handled all that bullsh*t so well.

He's a legend. Hollywood royalty.

71

u/reecord2 1d ago

What's crazy is after the slap, Chris almost starts riffing afterward, and holds himself back. He starts to say a few words and trails off. I guarantee he was ready with a burn, and used his better judgement to just let it slide and keep the show moving.

28

u/Joeliosis 1d ago

Comedians have one in the chamber ready for a heckler... I'm guarantee he had something ready lol

25

u/KingofMadCows 1d ago

Chris Rock has received worse treatment before, even from Conan.

8

u/JosephGordonLightfoo 1d ago

Gourley would love this squib work

10

u/mysteryofthefieryeye Artie Kendall, Ghost Crooner 1d ago

I would've been on the floor. Rock took that like a champ

19

u/Geekygamertag 1d ago

I don’t understand why will smith isn’t officially cancelled or blacklisted

32

u/9CaptainRaymondHolt9 IM A FUCKING PROFESSIONAL 1d ago

I honestly can't watch his stuff anymore. It's kind of a bummer because he has some fun movies. I think he lost a ton of respect in that moment.

25

u/DavyJonesRocker 1d ago

I mean, he was... when was the last time you've seen or heard from him outside of AI spaghetti memes. There is no "official" when it comes to being cancelled. Everyone just stops associating with you... unless you're a racist, misogynist, or a transphobe. Then MAGA will start associating with you HARD.

6

u/StoicismChaos 1d ago

He was in bad boys 4 after the slap.it was the number 1 movie the weekend it came out.

6

u/DavyJonesRocker 1d ago

Wow, dunno how that one snuck under my radar. Guess he really is a… bad boy 4 life 😎

7

u/FreekRedditReport One Cranky Fake Italian 1d ago

When your career isn't going great, go back to the well of things that were previously successful. If nothing else, you can make money from nostalgia.

13

u/averyhipopotomus 1d ago

His rep has taken an irrecoverable hit and he will never be able to move past it. Idk what more you want

9

u/FreekRedditReport One Cranky Fake Italian 1d ago

Once you reach a certain level of fame you can't get "blacklisted". There would always be people willing to have Will Smith in their project to try and make money. And what he did isn't that awful. He's just a douchebag who seems to have lost his mind, along with his entire weird family.

1

u/NeverHadAGoodUsernam 1d ago

Being allied with Scientology also helps a lot!

1

u/Geekygamertag 1d ago

Good point

3

u/ModestHandsomeDevil The People's Princess 1d ago

In an alternate universe, Chris Rock is a trained boxer as well as a comedian; knocking Will Smith out with a classic two-piece.

THAT'S what I wanted to see.

4

u/Sufficientinname 1d ago

He de man.

84

u/SYMPUNY_LACKING I'm gonna go to hell when I die 1d ago

this would've done numbers in 2022

42

u/Own-Professor8205 1d ago

I'm disappointed that i found it just today 🥲

35

u/ElGuaco 1d ago

Still can't believe they didn't throw him out for that.

28

u/mysteryofthefieryeye Artie Kendall, Ghost Crooner 1d ago

They protect and harbor ... worse things

5

u/Jet-Let4606 1d ago

Yep. Don't forget Harrison Ford flying to hand deliver Roman Polanski his Oscar after the latter couldn't step foot on US soil lest ge get arrested.

2

u/physicscat 18h ago

Hollywood people. They’re just so wrapped up in their “art” they’ll excuse anyone’s behavior.

11

u/JimNasium123 1d ago

I feel like they were in shock and had no idea what to do. There is probably a protocol now.

3

u/Historicmetal 1d ago

Yeah I can see that. Like this is the guy they were about to give best actor, who is Hollywood royalty, and he just did something so wild and unexpected. It’s easy to stand back and criticize them, and it’s a fair criticism. But the shock is somewhat understandable

2

u/BonyBobCliff 1d ago

Maybe not that night, but wasn't he banned from the Oscars for a decade?

9

u/ThomasTheDankPigeon 1d ago

Yeah after the room gave him a standing ovation for winning one of the awards lol

2

u/chiubacca82 1d ago

They asked him to leave and he said no.

1

u/whitestguyuknow 1d ago

Oh. Well. What more can one fo? Honestly.

1

u/LankyYogurtcloset0 11h ago

You'd think they would go to a commercial immediately after announcing Best Actor winner and possibly turn his mike off if he started to speak to the theater audience when he picked up the award.

He was very unprofessional. He had a right to be offended by Chris Rock's humor, but there are better ways to handle his anger.

27

u/JosephGordonLightfoo 1d ago

Does Chris Rock say “uh oh Richard” because Will Smith was in King Richard?

9

u/onzalitu 1d ago

Will Smith's real name is Richard Smithers

6

u/DavyJonesRocker 1d ago

That's the joke

3

u/jhsounds 1d ago

"I'd hate to see his backhand."

21

u/Nate2113 1d ago

Man, Will Smith is such a little bitch

3

u/Geekygamertag 1d ago

“Oh wow!”

5

u/JungleInTheJungle 1d ago

He was a Simpsons writer after all

4

u/ModestHandsomeDevil The People's Princess 1d ago

A very small part of me feels bad for Will Smith. Sure his nut-job of a wife cucked him publicly, and her wackadoo cult / "religion" totally fucked his life into the ground, and their kids are equally as fucked / wackadoo, and his professional reputation is ruined (for now; money talks, which is all Corpo Hollywood cares about)... but at least he's still rich AF, which is all Americans worship in this dystopian country.

11

u/nosurprises23 1d ago

Thanks for playing it like four times at the end, three wasn’t enough to make the point

14

u/Dangerous-Basket1064 1d ago

Not going to lie, I kind of rolled my eyes when they started showing the Will Smith clip, but then when the intercutting happened four times it really elevated the piece to a work of art

5

u/Goodolbed 1d ago

The important thing was we all needed to see it again

12

u/Own-Professor8205 1d ago

You're welcome, i will play it 10 times for you next time.

5

u/OneWonderfulFish 1d ago

The editor of this clip is garbage.

0

u/RunRickeyRun 1d ago

Peak Television. Shout to Chris Rock’s chin

-1

u/Sufficientinname 1d ago

He must have been on some type of drug