Jimmy Kimmel has suggested that Will Smith's altercation with Chris Rock at the Oscars may have put his nice-guy reputation at risk.
The comedian reflected on Smith's scandalous behavior at Sunday night's Academy Awards during a podcast appearance with Bill Simmons of The Ringer.
Smith shocked the world when, midway through the show, he strode onstage and slapped comedian Rock across the face for making a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
Rock poked fun at Pinkett Smith's closely shaved hair style, suggesting that she could appear in the next GI Jane film. The actress - who suffers from alopecia - was clearly unamused and rolled her eyes at the gag. Moments later, her husband stormed on stage and smacked Rock hard.
As Smith sat back down, the comedian tried to diffuse the situation by laughing it off. However, King Richard star Smith wasn't having it, and yelled from the audience: "Keep my wife's name out of your f***ing mouth."
The jaw-dropping moment was broadcast live around the world and has plunged Smith into a media storm.
During the podcast, Simmons suggested it might be "the craziest celebrity altercation ever," to which Kimmel replied: "Yeah, especially when you consider the characters involved. The nicest guy in Hollywood! If Tom Hanks got up and smacked somebody across the face... it’s the only thing comparable, right?"
The talk show host went on to commend Rock's handling of the situation, saying: "By the way, you have to hand it to Chris Rock... he barely flinched" and adding that he dealt with things "as well as he possibly could have."
Kimmel also said that he felt bad for a lot of people - including Smith.
"[The hosts] had some really great moments and now this is what people are gonna be talking about. You feel bad for Questlove [who won the Best Documentary award], and Chris Rock certainly didn’t deserve that," he said. "But in a way I feel bad for Will Smith too, I think he let his emotions get the better of him and this should have been one of the great nights of his life."