Ricky Gervais Jokes About Oscars Slap With ‘The Office’ Clip

Ricky Gervais has been riffing about Will Smith’s slapping of Chris Rock in a significantly less-serious tone than some Hollywood celebrities right now, which will be refreshing to some through the constant pearl-clutching that has been going on in response to Smith even though the actor has now apologized twice.

Smith slapped Rock across the face after he referred to his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith as “G.I. Jane 2.” Pinkett-Smith has the medical condition alopecia which causes hair loss, and rolled her eyes in response to the joke. After striking Rock, Smith returned to his seat and shouted, “Keep my wife’s name out your f––king mouth!”

Gervais first referenced the moment with a clip from the original U.K. version of The Office, which featured his character David Brent making an alopecia joke. In the clip, Brent is oversharing a coworker’s personal details with other employees and says in the clip “Particularly for his wife. And she’s got alopecia, so… not a happy home life.”