George Wallace says Chris Rock should sue Will Smith over Oscars slap

Chris Rock might not be thinking lawsuit. But George Wallace is.

“I would sue him for $200 million,” the veteran standup comedian said Wednesday. “I wish he had slapped me. Oh man, I would have done the same thing my friend Chris Rock did, and played it off. But I would’ve fallen on the floor, ‘I can’t get up! I’m looking into my future. Will Smith, thank you so much! You have made my life because I see some black robes in our future!’ ”

WelllI…I told #ChrisRock to press charges and Sue #WillSmith’s a$$ for $200 mil. Then visit him in jail and whatnot.

— George Wallace (@MrGeorgeWallace) March 30, 2022

Wallace has actually tweeted that very message on his consistently funny @MrGeorgeWallace Twitter feed. The comedian alternated between his fresh material and his serious message about Smith’s slap of Rock during Sunday’s Oscars telecast.

“It was so disappointing. Did he cross the line? Yes, he did. When did he cross the line? When he got up and left his chair,” said Wallace, who has yet to make a plan to return to Westgate Cabaret, his most recent Vegas residency home. “The first step crossed the line. He just laughed at the joke, which wasn’t a great joke, but it was a good joke. Will Smith could have asked for an apology after the show. But nobody would remember the damn joke if he’d just stayed in his seat.”

Wallace said the incident broke up “the best-produced Oscar show ever.”

“(Show producer) Will Packer did an awesome job and I enjoyed the inclusion of the three hosts (Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes and Regina Hall), who were great. The set designs, oh, my God, were great; I couldn’t stop watching,” Wallace said. “And then came Will to screw it up.”

Wallace said Rock should have pressed criminal charges, too, saying, “If somebody had slapped Larry David or Jimmy Kimmel, police would have locked him up automatically.”

Wallace said the incident had soured him on all Smiths.

“I don’t like ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,’ Keely Smith, Granny Smith apples, the Smith Bros. with their cough drops. I’m not even going to Smith’s grocery stores anymore!” Wallace said, building momentum. “I’m boycotting the Smithsonian! Emmitt Smith, who used to play for the Dallas Cowboys? Forget him! I love Will Smith, but I don’t love him today!”

Vegas headlining club comic Kathleen Dunbar says she disagrees with anyone who thinks the event was staged. “I have talked to people who know Chris, Amy and Wanda, and they say there is no way it was not a setup. Chris was shocked at what happened,” Dunbar said.

“I thought it was disgusting. I think Hollywood has lost its damn mind.”

Harry Basil, GM of Laugh Factory at Tropicana and the club’s occasional headliner, called Smith’s actions “disgusting, as an entertainer, and as a filmmaker. It was disrespectful to his fellow nominees, the Academy, and to the world.”

Basil recalled one incident about five years ago at Laugh Factory in Hollywood, when an audience member reacted physically to a routine onstage. Basil performs film impressions in his show, dressing up as such characters as Superman. He regularly brings an audience member to the stage to act out scenes.

In the bit, Basil tosses a sheet over an audience member’s head during a “Ghostbusters” segment and leaves the guest alone onstage for several uncomfortable seconds.

“I did this one night to a woman whose husband was in the audience, and he actually came onstage and pulled the sheet off and yanked her back to her seat,” Basil said. “I said, ‘Whoa, whoa, this is a movie spoof. We’re just having fun.’ And then he threw a glass at me. It hit a chair onstage, shattered, I had a cut on my leg. It was wild.”

What happened to the guy who flung the glass?

“Security threw him out,” Basil said.

Vegas resident and comic actress Marsha Warfield tweeted, “If they take Will’s Oscar, does it go to the first runner-up, like Vanessa Williams’ Miss America title,” referring to Williams being stripped of the title in 1984 after erotic photos of her surfaced.

Warfield, who played Roz on the NBC sitcom “Night Court,” also said on Twitter, “Look, no one should hit anyone. And just as words often have consequences, so do actions. None of us know what will happen next in this saga, but charges could be brought, careers could be affected, even ended, more punches could be thrown, or cooler heads could prevail.”

In a separate post, Warfield said, “Explanations are not excuses, but people, even celebrities, are more than just soundbites and hashtags.”

Pauly Shore, the longtime comic actor and a regular Vegas headliner, texted to say that Smith’s actions were “not cool.” He said he’s never witnessed a comic being struck onstage. “It was very odd, especially at the Oscars,” Shore added.

Carrot Top has made a joke of the event on his social media pages, showing a red, hand-shaped splotch on his left cheek and a clip of his staff lining up to slap him onstage. During his act, the prop comic makes a joke about Adele playing Little Caesars instead of Caesars Palace. A crew member in a wig then takes the stage and cracks him.

Strat headliner Butch Bradley posted a photo of his new stage security staff — two dobermans. He also said Wednesday, “I’m still in shock, but also once again humbled by the class @ChrisRock showed in handling a public bullying.”

Bradley retweeted a message from fellow comic Steve Byrne, who said, “Rock Star. Go get ’em @chrisrock, can’t wait to see what pen brings to paper.”

Laugh Factory on Sunset Boulevard has switched its marquee to the message, “Laugh Factory supports First Amendment rights for all comedians. Your comedy community loves & supports you Chris.”

“He could have handled this in so many different ways,” Basil said. “He could have just booed. Whatever happened to booing?”

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.