Ricky Gervais says: 'I would not have made a joke about his wife’s hair. I would have made a joke about her boyfriend'

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By Carina Murphy

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Ricky Gervais has broken his silence on the infamous Oscars slap.

Will Smith shocked the world on Sunday when he marched on stage and hit comedian Chris Rock at Sunday night's Academy Awards ceremony.

The actor's outburst was prompted by Rock poking fun at his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, who he implied might appear in the next GI Jane movie because of her closely shaved head.

Check out Rock's joke in the video below:

Pinkett Smith - who has alopecia - rolled her eyes at the gag, clearly unamused. Moments later, her husband jumped up on stage and hit Rock across the face.

The moment - which was broadcast live around the world - sparked international outrage and debate over whether celebs have the right to get annoyed at comedians roasting them.

An uncensored video of the moment can also be seen below (Warning - strong language):

Now, the king of roasting at award shows, Gervais, has weighed in on the controversy - and revealed the savage joke he would have made instead.

The UK comedian has repeatedly made headlines with his stints hosting the Golden Globes, where he delivered brutal joke after brutal joke at the expense of his celebrity audience.

Per The Mirror, Gervais spoke out about the event while testing new material at a show in London.

"I’ll get it out of the way. I have not got any Will Smith material. I trended when that happened and I was not even there. What has it got to do with me?" the comedian began, adding: "People were going 'What would have happened if Ricky Gervais had been (hosting)?'"

"Well, nothing," he continued, before delivering the punchline: "I would not have made a joke about his wife’s hair. I would have made a joke about her boyfriend."

Gervais' gag refers to 29-year-old singer August Alsina, who Pinkett Smith admitted to having a relationship with in 2015 while she and her husband were separated. The secret relationship only came to light in 2020, and it prompted Pinkett Smith to spill the beans on her and her husband's "open" marriage in a now-infamous episode of her YouTube show Red Table Talk.

"It was a relationship, absolutely. I was in a lot of pain," Pinkett Smith said, before saying that she and Smith "were going through a process of healing in a much different manner" at the time and that Alsina was not a "homewrecker".

Featured image credit: PA Images / Alamy