Late-Night Hosts Tackle Will Smith Oscars Slap, Different Approaches

Late-night talk hosts are sinking their teeth into Will Smith‘s slap heard-round-the-world, with some going harder than others … and at least one didn’t really bite at all.

Jimmy Fallon opted to tread very lightly, but Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel took much more direct approaches — so, we’ll start with them.

JK recapped the entire saga well… sprinkling in light jabs toward Will, like joking that while he hoped to be invited back, he also might be waiting for the Academy in the parking lot if he doesn’t get the call.

Colbert was even harsher… taking a bunch of shots at Will and his movies (calling those flicks the worst thing he’s ever done aside from this), and also criticizing Oscars producers for letting Will give a long acceptance speech without much consequence at all.

Seth Meyers didn’t hit the subject himself, but instead, let one of his writers do a bit in which she recounted the horror of watching it go down with flowery prose and poetic language.

Not nearly as funny as the first 2 guys, but an interesting way to dissect it.

James Corden, meanwhile, found a very creative way to analyze the whole thing … invoking ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno’ — the smash-hit Disney song from “Encanto” — but applied it to Will/Jada.

It was pretty funny, and made for quite the musical number … which is right in James’ wheelhouse. Dude loves to sing and dance — and he didn’t miss the opportunity here.

Finally, there was Fallon … who clearly did not want to get into it very much at all — not even saying Will Smith or Chris Rock‘s name, but glossing over the moment almost entirely and pivoting to Russia news.

That might have to do with the fact that Jimmy is known to have a close relationship with Rock — dating back to his ‘SNL’ days — but as a late-night host, also wants to have Will on as a guest … so it’s possible he’s opting to stay on the sidelines.

Most of the hosts said the obvious … that violence is unacceptable, and considering the serious nature of the situation — it’s cool they found a way to break it down with some humor, which is what they’re paid to do.

Will, meanwhile, has since apologized to Chris … but CR himself has been mum following the whole thing.

The Academy is investigating — although it’s fairly clear what happened here — and it remains to be seen what, if any, consequences Will may face.