The 2022 Academy Awards will go down in history as one of the most controversial years of the ceremony, specifically because of the viral moment when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock after the comedian joked about Jada Pinkett Smith on the Oscar stage. But that’s not the only moment that left viewers talking and getting a little mad. Many people were not amused by a joke Amy Schumer told seemingly at the expense of Kirsten Dunst, so much so that the comedian has shared that she received “death threats.”
Following the telecast, Amy Schumer took to her social media to clarify for the Oscars audience that a moment between her, Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons during the show was a “choreographed bit.” Now that more time has passed since the show, the comedian recently shared on The Howard Stern Show that she did that specifically due to all the death threats she was getting about the joke.
During the interview (via Yahoo!), Amy Schumer shared that people were really not happy at the part during the show where she had The Power of the Dog actress get out of her seat, after accusing her of being a “seat-filler,” to sit next to Kirsten Dunst’s co-star and husband Jesse Plemons. As Schumer shared:
They were so bad the Secret Service reached out to me about that bit. I was like, ‘I think you have the wrong number. It’s Amy, not Will.’
In the segment toward the end of the show, Amy Schumer gave a shout-out to the seat fillers that come to the Oscars and often briefly take the spots of famous guests while they go to the bathroom or “to cry” for those who don’t win. Schumer approached a table where Jesse Plemons and Kirsten Dunst were sitting, watch what happened from there:
Amy Schumer escorted Kirsten Dunst before taking her spot and telling her real-life husband that she “loved” him in The Power of the Dog. Plemons let her know that Dunst is his wife, to which she delivers the punchline “You’re married to that seat filler?” During the telecast, it did play as a bit awkward, and audiences may not have known that Dunst and Plemons were totally in on it.
During Schumer’s post-Oscars interview with Howard Stern, the comedian said that she actually ran her jokes by those she was making fun of prior to co-hosting the show. She shared that she asked Leonardo DiCaprio about his trend of dating younger women, to which he said “go ahead.” She also reached out to Will Smith in regards to the joke about Hollywood making a movie about Serena and Venus Williams’ dad after years of ignoring women’s stories as well.
In regards to the Will Smith moment, Amy Schumer called the moment “traumatizing” for everyone. Wanda Sykes, who co-hosted the event with Schumer and Regina Hall, previously shared her wishes for Will Smith to be escorted out of the event after the altercation, but instead he won his first Oscar shortly after to a standing ovation. Smith has since resigned from the Academy and been banned from future Oscar ceremonies for the next decade. Additionally, two two movies Smith was set to star in have been placed on pause.
If you’re still in the awards season mood, you can check out how to stream all the 2022 Best Picture nominees here on CinemaBlend.