After Oscars, Will Smith banned from 'SNL' following infamous 'slapgate' with Chris Rock

Although Will Smith's infamous slapgate incident happened months ago, the actor is still frequently in the headlines because of it. Following the infamous feud, the King Richard actor was banned by the Academy Awards for 10 years, but it appears that this was not enough as now popular American show Saturday Night Live is also planning to ban Smith for the same reasons.

Smith is apparently not welcome back on Saturday Night Live and as per media reports, he is being permanently banned following the slap gate incident with comedian Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards. According to Radar Online, Will Smith won't be invited back to 'SNL' because of what he did to Chris Rock at the March event. Since he was a star of the programme from 1990 to 1993, the comedian was undoubtedly once a significant part of it.

A source close to the site said, "Smith will never ever be invited back to ‘SNL’ after what he did to Chris. The show is a temple comedian, and no one wants him around anymore." The source added,

"Forget hosting, Will won’t even be able to get a ticket to sit in the audience anymore. He’s not welcome. If Will Smith was invited back, ‘SNL’ would never get another big celebrity ever again. Stars would rightly boycott the show if he was welcomed inside Studio 8H."

The 94th Academy Awards turned out to be one of the most controversial nights in the history of the Oscars after Hollywood star Will Smith smacked comedian-host Chris Rock on the stage of Dolby Theatre. 

Will Smith's altercation with Chris Rock

In an unexpected turn of events, King Richard actor Will Smith stormed the Dolby Theater stage to confront Chris Rock just moments before collecting his first-ever Oscar. Jada Pinkett Smith's hair was the subject of an insensitive joke made by the Grown Ups star, and everyone's favourite Men In Black actor wasn't too thrilled about it. Smith then walked onto the stage and smacked the comedian on the face, leaving the audience sitting in the theatre stunned.

Later, Smith apologised to Chris Rock in a social media post. Responding to why he didn’t apologise to Chris in his acceptance speech, Smith said, "I was fogged out by that point. It is all fuzzy. I’ve reached out to Chris and the message that came back is that he’s not ready to talk. When he is ready, he will reach out. I will say to you, Chris, I apologise to you. My behaviour was unacceptable and I am here whenever you are ready to talk. I want to apologise to Chris’ mother." Take a look at the post here:

Image: AP