Billy Crystal: Will Smith, Chris Rock Incident 'Was an Assault'

Billy Crystal has described Will Smith hitting Chris Rock at the 94th Academy Awards as "an assault."

The actor, who has hosted the Oscars several times, made his remarks during an appearance on "Back on the Record" with Bob Costas while weighing in on the "disturbing incident" during which Smith stormed onto the stage and struck Rock with an open hand to the face before returning to his seat and yelling at the comedian who had cracked a joke about his wife's balding head. 

"It was a most disturbing incident, for sure," Crystal said, according to Fox News. "It was an assault. I've had experiences. I hosted the Grammys three times and I've been thrown things."

During the times he had hosted the Oscars, Crystal said he was aware that things that could go awry. 

"In [Oscars] pre-production, the amazing Gil Cates, we would go through — he was the producer for six of the nine that I did — we would go through the rundown and I'd say, ‘Maybe I should be there because something might happen there. If that person wins, I should follow that,'" he said.

"I sort of set myself up to host the show, really host the show, so you can tie it together," Crystal added. "So, whenever I see shows that it's a no-host show, yeah, it went faster, but there's nobody there to capitalize on anything and give the audience the feeling of there's somebody in charge."

On Tuesday Crystal joked about the events that unfolded on March 27 during his curtain speech at a dress rehearsal for his Broadway show "Mr. Saturday Night."

"We got through a show and no one got slapped. Unbelievable," he said.

Jimmy Kimmel, who also emceed the telecast in 2017 and 2018, discussed the ordeal during his "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" monologue on Monday.

"It’s now part of our lives forever; we will never stop talking about this," Kimmel said, according to the New York Post. "It was so shocking the only thing that I can really compare it to is when Mike Tyson bit Evander Holyfield’s ears. Even Kanye was like, 'You went on stage and did what at an awards show?'"

The late-night host added, "And the weirdest part is that initially Will Smith laughed at that joke. But then he must’ve looked over and noticed that Jada was not amused and was like, Uh-oh, I better do something. And boy did he do something."

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