Howard Stern is not the first prominent media figure to condemn Will Smith for his physical assault on comedian Chris Rock during Sunday nightâs Oscars. But he might be the only one to draw a direct parallel between the superstar actor and former President Donald Trump.
âThe first thing I said to myself was, âWhat the fuck is going on, is this a bit?ââ the host said on his SiriusXM show Monday morning. âBecause where is security? This is a live television event! Not one person came out, because heâs Will Smith.
âThis is how Trump gets away with shit,â he continued. âWill Smith and Trump are the same guy. He decided heâs going to take matters into his own hands, at a time when the world is at war. Bad timing, man. I mean, just calm your fucking ass down.â
Stern went on to praise Rock for thinking (and staying) on his feet, even though he was clearly âflusteredâ after what had happened. But he quickly returned to Smith, who he said âclearly has got emotional problemsâ as evidenced by his surreal acceptance speech later in the night. âThis is a sign of great mental illness when you canât control your impulse,â he added.
The host then joked that if Best Actress winner Jessica Chastainâs husband had stormed the stage and punched someone, he would have been âescorted outâ immediately. âYou donât think they would have called the police and said, âWeâve got a madman on the loose?ââ he asked.
Later, comedian Nikki Glaser called in to express her shock and concern over the incident, taking Sternâs comments a step further by drawing an analogy with Hollywoodâs most notorious sexual predator.
âPeople say, âHow did Weinstein get away with that for so long? How did that happen?â And itâs like, we just witnessed it!â she said. âEveryone saw an assault take place. Everyone in the room with their own eyes. And then if you would have tuned in 20 minutes later, you would have never known that happened.â
