Even before the 64th Grammy Awards officially started, LeVar Burton took the opportunity to roast Will Smith over his Oscars slap, with comedian Nate Bargatze getting in on the fun as well.
The 65-year-old actor hosted the Grammys pre-show, where the non-televised awards were handed out before the main show on Sunday evening.
Burton was introducing the next presenter, comedian Nate Bargatze, who got in on the fun himself by presenting with a helmet on.
Roast: Even before the 64th Grammy Awards officially started, LeVar Burton took the opportunity to roast Will Smith over his Oscars slap, with comedian Nate Bargatze getting in on the fun as well
Slap: Will Smith’s now-infamous SLAP of Chris Rock is still the talk of the town one week later, with LeVar Burton mentioning it at the Grammys pre-show
Burton took to the stage to announce the next presenter, but before he did that, he warned the audience that he was in fact a comedian.
‘I want to warn you all that our next presenter is a comedian, if you know what I mean,’ Burton began.‘So, I need to caution everybody, remain in your seats and keep your hands to yourself,’ Burton added.
Comedian: Burton took to the stage to announce the next presenter, but before he did that, he warned the audience that he was in fact a comedian
Hands to yourself: ‘So, I need to caution everybody, remain in your seats and keep your hands to yourself,’ Burton added
When Bargatze came out on stage, he walked out in a black-on-black suit, with a matte black motorcycle helmet, which brought some laughs from the crowd.
‘They said comedians had to wear these now at awards shows during the Joke Wars,’ Bargatze added.
Laughs: When Bargatze came out on stage, he walked out in a black-on-black suit, with a matte black motorcycle helmet, which brought some laughs from the crowd
Joke wars: ‘They said comedians had to wear these now at awards shows during the Joke Wars,’ Bargatze added
Bargatze ultimately lost the Best Comedy Award album to Louis C.K. for his album Sincerely Louis C.K.
Grammys host Trevor Noah also briefly touched on the Will Smith controversy, during his opening monologue.
‘Don’t even think of this as an award show. It’s a concert where we are giving out awards, we will be listening to music, dancing, sing, keeping people’s names out of our mouths and we are going to give people awards all throughout the night. So let’s get straight into it,’ Noah said, before announcing the next performer, Olivia Rodrigo.
Grammy host: Grammys host Trevor Noah also briefly touched on the Will Smith controversy, during his opening monologue
Smith’s infamous slap happened exactly one week ago today, where he reacted to a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
The actress has been suffering from alopecia since 2018, with Rock joking that he can’t wait to see Jada in G.I. Jane 2.
While Smith seemed to laugh at the joke, just seconds later he walked up on stage and slapped Rock before going back to his seat and screaming, ‘Keep my wife’s name out your f***ing mouth!’
Scream: While Smith seemed to laugh at the joke, just seconds later he walked up on stage and slapped Rock before going back to his seat and screaming, ‘Keep my wife’s name out your f***ing mouth!’
