Comedian Richard Ayoade presented the 2022 BAFTA TV Awards on Sunday and savagely criticized Will Smith’s infamous Oscars slap in the face of Chris Rock in his opening monologue.
Introducing the show at London’s Royal Festival Hall, Ayoade told the audience: “BAFTA is celebrating 75 years at the heart of our industry, even though industries have no heart.”
“In 1955 there were only six categories. Barely enough time to get out of his seat and slap someone before the whole ceremony was over.”
As the audience laughed, he added, “Don’t worry about your overly filmed heads, I’m not going to use your faces as jokes or punching bags, you’ve suffered enough. No one works harder than us apart from people in other professions.”
“I’m working a couple of hours today, I’m exhausted,” Ayoade said.
It’s been more than a month since the King Richard actor punched Rock at the Academy Awards after he made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, alluding to his shaved head.
Rock, during his recent performance at Caesars Palace in Los Angeles, told the audience: “I’m fine. I got my hearing back. It wasn’t as bad as it seemed.”