Oscars 2022 Made Several Historic Firsts, But Will Smith Slapping Chris Rock On Stage Dominated The Conversation
After a movie year often light on crowds, the Academy Awards named an unabashed crowd-pleaser, the deaf family drama “CODA,” best picture Sunday, handing Hollywood’s top award to a streaming service (Apple TV+) for the first time. Many, though, were talking about another moment. After comedian Chris Rock, as a presenter, joked to Jada Pinkett Smith that he was looking forward to a sequel to “G.I. Jane,” Will Smith stood up from his seat near the stage, strode up to Rock and smacked him. After sitting back down, Smith shouted at Rock to “keep my wife's name out of your (expletive) mouth." When Rock, who joked about Jada Pinkett Smith while hosting the Oscars in 2016, protested that it was just a “GI Jane” joke, Smith repeated the same line. The moment shocked the Dolby Theatre audience and viewers at home.
Today on AirTalk, Aisha Harris, a host of NPR’s podcast “Pop Culture Happy Hour” joins us to help recap the 2022 Oscars telecast, explore what worked well and what did not with the broadcast and production itself, and of course talk about how the on stage incident between Smith and Rock loomed over the evening’s historic firsts.
With files from the Associated Press
Ariana DeBose, Summer Of Soul, CODA And More. Recapping The Big Oscar Winners
Ariana DeBose for best supporting actress, “Summer of Soul” for best documentary and “CODA” for best picture. These are just some of the big winners from the 94th annual Academy Awards Sunday night. The program didn’t come and go without controversy though.Claudia Puig, president of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, andTim Cogshell, critic for Alt-Film Guide and CineGods.com, join to discuss how the ceremony was received and help us recap the big winners of the night. What’d you think of the ceremony and broadcast? Share by calling 866-893-5722 or email atcomments@kpcc.og.
COVID-19 AMA: Only 30 Percent of L.A. County Kids Vaccinated, How To Assess Your Risk As Restrictions End, And More
In our continuing series looking at the latest medical research and news on COVID-19, Larry Mantle speaks with Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, infectious disease specialist and professor of medicine at the UCSF Medical Center.
Topics today include:
- Only 30% of L.A. County kids are vaccinated, months after COVID shots became available
- Why it’s so difficult to assess pandemic risks right now
- California sends millions of COVID-19 tests to schools for the return from spring break
- Studies link COVID-19 infection with increased risk of new diabetes diagnosis
- Pfizer, Moderna, and J&J face shareholder pressure to broaden vaccine access
- Shanghai to put 25 million in a staggered COVID lockdown
Celebrating The KPCC/LAist “Backbone Staff”
While most of you probably know KPCC from the reporters and hosts you hear on the air, our station requires the contributions of so many talented, unique individuals whose names aren’t said during show credits. These are the people who truly make KPCC and LAist: they keep our broadcast equipment running, they put on our pledge drives and help secure sponsorships and donations, they put together the pre-recorded spots you hear between shows, they make sure our facilities at the Mohn Broadcast Center are operating smoothly, and keep our websites humming.
This week on AirTalk, we’re highlighting some of these amazing people who work at KPCC/LAist, and whose tireless efforts are critical to what you hear and read every day. Today, we’re joined by our technical director for live events Tony Federico and institutional giving officer Delaine Ureño.