Mila Kunis has said Will Smith getting a standing ovation when he won the Oscar after slapping Chris Rock over a joke was ‘shocking’ and ‘insane to me.’
Showbiz names ranging from movie stars like Bradley Cooper, Timothee Chalamet, Benedict Cumberbatch and Jason Momoa to acclaimed filmmakers like Paul Thomas Anderson, Kenneth Branagh and Jane Campion all rose to their feet to applaud Will.
However Mila, 39, and her husband Ashton Kutcher, 44, were at the show and declined to stand – and in a new cover story for C she lambasted the people who did.
‘The idea of leading by example only makes sense when you actually have someone to lead. We have our tiny little tribe here at home, and never once do I want to tell them to do something if I’m not willing to do it myself,’ she argued.
‘Not standing up to me was a no-brainer, but what was shocking to me was how many people did stand up,’ said Mila, who rose to fame as a comic actress.
‘I thought, wow, what a time we’re living in that rather than do what’s right, people focus on doing what looks good. It’s insane to me.’
Will slapped Chris Rock onstage at the Oscars this March for making a bald joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, who shaved her head because she has alopecia.
Jada, I love you. GI Jane 2, can’t wait to see it,’ Chris cracked, in reference to the 1997 movie starring Demi Moore with a shaved head.
Will was seen initially laughing at the joke, but Jada rolled her eyes and then he stormed onto the stage to give Chris a smack across the face.
Then Will flounced back to his seat and repeatedly shrieked at Chris: ‘Keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth!’
Less than an hour after his outburst, Will was awarded the best actor Oscar and received a standing ovation for his tearful speech in which he called himself a protector of his family and expressed a desire to be a ‘vessel of love.’
Although he apologized to the Academy and his fellow nominees during his speech, he did not issue a public apology to Chris until the following day.
After the awards, he went to the Vanity Fair Oscar Party and danced to his own song Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It while other partygoers cheered him on.
As the backlash mounted, but before the Academy could decide what punishment it should impose for the incident, Will resigned from the organization.
Although his departure meant he could no longer vote for the Oscars, he at that point was still able to attend the show.
However the Academy has since imposed a 10-year ban on his attending the ceremony, though he can still be nominated for and win Oscars.
Jada finally addressed the slap in June on an alopecia-themed episode of her show Red Table Talk, urging Will and Chris to patch up their differences.
She cooed: ‘Now about Oscar night, my deepest hope is that these two intelligent, capable men have an opportunity to heal, talk this out and reconcile.’
Meanwhile, a month after the slap Will surfaced in India, where a People source said he was planning to meditate, do yoga and focus on spirituality.
At the end of July he issued an agonizing apology video for his ‘unacceptable’ conduct at the Oscars and confirmed that Chris was ‘not ready to talk.’
Mila’s comments went public on the heels of an announcement that Jada is working on a ‘no holds barred’ memoir that will cover her ‘complicated marriage’ and act as a ‘celebration of authentic feminine power.’
