‘The View’ Weighs In on Consequences for Will Smith’s Oscars Slap: “Harvey Weinstein Still Has His Oscars”

The question of whether the Motion Picture Academy will punish Will Smith for slapping Chris Rock at this year’s ceremonies was hotly debated on today’s episode of The View. As Sunny Hostin and guest host Tara Setmayer discussed Smith’s outburst, Setmayer echoed comments that Hostin made on yesterday’s show, stating that if this was a school, such behavior would get you suspended.

“We cannot have selective consequences,” Setmayer said. “I understand that he had a break at that point, even his mother acknowledged that he went off, but you can’t selectively decide who gets consequences and who doesn’t. I think at that point he should have been removed, and he should have been taken out, I’m not saying arrested, I’m saying removed from the auditorium, spoken to. Kids need to know, Sunny, you made the point the other day, if that was a child in school, what you teach your kids is that there are consequences for your actions.”

Hostin spoke up, adding that she’s a firm believer in “not cancel culture, but consequence culture… I do wonder what happens next,” she said. “You know, Harvey Weinstein, there’s no comparison but he still has his Oscars.” Weinstein, who sits in prison now for rape, was expelled from the Academy after sexual assault accusations were filed against him, but the Academy did not strip him of any of his awards.

“I heard that they talked about maybe not having him present next year,” Setmayer suggested, referring to Smith.

“I’m talking about having some sort of consequence, it shouldn’t be taking his Oscars, it shouldn’t be canceling him – ” Hostin said, before Whoopi Goldberg, who is on a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Board of Governors, interjected saying “There are consequences. There are big consequences, because nobody is okay with what happened. Nobody, nobody, nobody.”

Goldberg also brought up a question that many viewers had, which is why Smith was not escorted out of the building, and why several people including Denzel Washington and Tyler Perry, came to Smith’s side after the event, and no one appeared to approach Rock. “The reason no one got up to go comfort Chris is because they weren’t gonna let anybody else on stage,” she said. “There were people there for Chris. The reason people got up and went over to [Smith] is because people though, ‘Oh my God, is he having a break? What do we need to do?’ The reason they didn’t take him out is that would be another 15-20 minute explanation of why we’re taking the Black man out five seconds before they’re about to decide whether he’s won an Oscar or not.”

Goldberg’s position on the Academy’s Board of Governors puts her in a unique spot, unable to fully weigh in as her fellow panelists speculate about Smith’s repercussions, but we’re sure the conversation will continue on the panel if and when Smith’s consequences are revealed.

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