Whoopi Goldberg on Will Smith: Oscars Didn't Want to Explain 'Taking the Black Man Out’

Whoopi Goldberg told her co-hosts Tuesday on ABC’s “The View” that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences did not want to explain “taking a black man out.”

Therefore, she said they did not remove actor Will Smith after he slapped comedian Chris Rock during the Oscars.

Guest-host Tara Setmayer said, “We cannot have selective consequences. I understand he had a break at that point. Even his mother acknowledged he went off. 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, just removed from the building, removed from the auditorium, spoken to.”

Goldberg, “The reason no one got up to go comfort Chris is because they weren’t going to let anybody else on the stage.”

She continued, “I’m going to tell you the rest of it. Let me finish with this part. They weren’t going to let anybody go back. There were people there for Chris. Everybody is aware. The reason people got up and went over to him is because I think a lot of people thought, Oh my God, is he having a break? And so do we need to get him out? What do we need to do? And the reason they didn’t go and take him out is because that would have been 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 added, “So that’s, and I’m going to say I believe Will Packer made the right decision. He said, let’s get through the rest of this so we can deal with it wholeheartedly. So that’s what went on. This is not the first time craziness has happened on stage, but this is the first time we’ve seen anybody assault anybody on stage.”

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