Those who watched the winners get handed out at the 94th Academy Awards in 2022 will not soon forget the sight of Will Smith storming the stage and slapping presenter Chris Rock. It was a shocking and upsetting turn of events that resulted in widespread industry chatter and consequences: Smith was forced to resign his membership to the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences, and he was banned from attending the Oscars or any other Academy event for a decade. In the aftermath, Wanda Sykes (one of the three co-hosts that night) was one of the most outspoken critics of the moment, and in recent reflection on what happened, she explained that it wasn't just the slap that upset her but also the immediate reaction to it at the ceremony.
Sykes recently appeared as a guest on an episode of The Breakfast Club, and the subject of Chris Rock came up in conversation with co-host Charlamagne Tha God because of the significant role that he had in her career: one of her first big breaks in the industry was writing for The Chris Rock Show in the late 1990s.
