Actor and comedian Jim Carrey is under fire following his comments about Will Smith slapping presenter Chris Rock at the 94th Annual Academy Awards.
Earlier this week, Carrey appeared in an interview and spoke about the Smith incident, indicating it was a “selfish” moment and that he would’ve sued Smith for $200 million afterward.
However, an incident involving Carrey arrived years before the Oscars at the MTV Movie Awards, which featured Carrey forcibly kissing an onstage presenter after claiming his award.
Jim Carrey clip surfaces involving MTV Movie Awards
At the 1997 MTV Movie Awards, Jim Carrey was on a high as the winner of several awards for his comedy film The Cable Guy, including Best Villain and Best Comedic Performance. Actress Alicia Silverstone presented one of the awards to Carrey at the event.
Carrey, 35, at the time, looked to take advantage of the spotlight and possibly tried to make things funny by forcing a lengthy mouth-to-mouth kiss on the 20-year-old Silverstone on stage.
In a clip that has now surfaced and is going viral on Twitter, Silverstone appears to have a bewildered look on her face following the incident.
“Says the guy who sexually assaulted Alicia Silverstone,” a Twitter user tweeted in response to an article highlighting Carrey’s comments about Will Smith.
Another Twitter user tweeted a screenshot of Carrey’s kiss on the much younger Silverstone, saying “the internet remembers.”
Yet another Twitter user revealed a screenshot from the same event, which shows Jim Carrey trying to force a kiss on Will Smith jokingly. However, Smith held Carrey off from being able to lock lips with him.
As of this report, neither Jim Carrey nor Alicia Silverstone has commented about the MTV Movie Awards incident.
Carrey commented on Smith’s actions at the Oscars
This past Sunday, an incident involving Will Smith and Chris Rock became the talk of the town as Smith walked up to the stage while Rock was presenting an award and slapped him in the face.
Smith’s slap was following a joke that Rock delivered about Will’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, in which he referred to her bald look. Based on reports, Chris Rock was unaware that Jada has alopecia, a condition that brings unpredictable hair loss.
Following the slap, Smith returned to his seat and shouted at Rock from the audience to leave his wife’s name out of his “f***ing” mouth. Rock continued by presenting the next award, while Smith remained in the audience and later claimed the award for Best Actor.
He gave a teary-eyed and lengthy speech which included apologies to the Academy and other nominees for his earlier actions, but not Chris Rock. Following his speech, Smith received a standing ovation from the audience, full of Hollywood stars.
A few days later, Carrey appeared in an interview with CBS’ Gayle King, where he called out Smith’s actions and blasted the Hollywood audience for being “spineless” with their ovation.
“I was sickened by the standing ovation,” Carrey said. “I felt like Hollywood is just spineless en masse.”
He also brought up Smith slapping Rock, suggesting he would’ve sued Will Smith for $200 million following an assault like that.
“You do not have the right to … smack somebody in the face because they said words,” Carrey said, calling it “a selfish moment that cast a pall over the whole thing.”
A day after the Oscars incident, Will Smith issued an apology via his Instagram, apologizing to Chris Rock and others for what happened. However, the Academy has said they are looking into punishment for Smith’s actions, which could mean expulsion or suspension from the Academy.