As the husband of two-time Oscar nominee Scarlett Johansson, SNL writer and “Weekend Update” co-anchor Colin Jost knows a thing or two about what it’s really like to sit through an Oscars ceremony in-person. Which is why he isn’t so sure that being banned from attending the awards-giving portion of the evening itself isn’t really the worst thing in the world.
One week after declaring Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars as “one of the craziest things we will ever see in our lives” and lamenting that it set “a terrible precedent for having to defend your wife at awards shows,” Jost had some thoughts about the Academy’s decision to ban Smith from The Oscars ceremony for the next 10 years—but only the ceremony: “Is that a punishment?”
Jost went on to explain that the “ban” doesn’t prevent Smith from being nominated or even winning an Oscar—or from getting jiggy with it (again) at any Oscar parties. “He just doesn’t have to attend the four-hour ceremony where someone is definitely going to make fun of his wife again.”
If Jost were the one doling out the penances, he thinks forcing Smith to host next year’s Oscars would be more befitting.
You can watch Jost’s thoughts above, beginning around the 2:35 mark.
