Entertainment
Richard E Grant makes Bafta hosting debut with cheeky reference to Will Smith’s Oscars slap-Emily Bashforth-Entertainment – Metro
Oh Richard!
Richard E Grant couldn’t resist a Will Smith gag! (Picture: Getty)
Is it even an awards show without a Will Smith slap joke these days?
Making his debut as Baftas host, Richard E Grant started off strong, leaving the star-studded audience in stitches with his gags.
Opening the 2023 ceremony in London, the British actor told audiences that ‘on my watch no one gets slapped tonight’ as he concluded his humorous remarks at the top of the show.
Smith stormed onto the stage during the 94th annual Academy Awards in March and slapped presenter Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith and her alopecia.
The actor, who went on to win the coveted best actor Oscar moments later, was later banned from all Academy events for the next 10 years and resigned from the organisation.
Speaking at the Baftas, Grant said that the only slaps being received on Sunday would be ‘on the back.’
The actor opened the show in style (Picture: Kate Green/BAFTA/Getty Images for BAFTA)
‘What a great year to be hosting the Baftas,’ he said.
‘In 2022, movie audiences were well and truly back and there has never been a better time to go to the cinema until right now.’
He added: ‘Well, not right now, I’m trying my best and nobody on my watch gets slapped tonight… except on the back.’
Grant also used the speech to seek work from the industry in comical style.
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Reading out a cheeky resume, he added that his availability was ‘free from one minute past nine this evening.’
‘To each and everyone here tonight, I want you to know that my favourite film of the year is whichever one you made – it really touched me in a way that none of the others did,’ he joked.
Baftas 2023 full winners list
Best adapted screenplay
All Quiet On The Western Front
Best supporting actress
Kerry Condon – The Banshees Of Inisherin
Best supporting actor
Barry Keoghan – The Banshees Of Inisherin
Best film not in the English language
All Quiet On The Western Front
Best cinematography
All Quiet On The Western Front
Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer
Charlotte Wells – Aftersun
Animated film
Pinocchio
Best original screenplay
The Banshees Of Inisherin
Best original score
All Quiet On The Western Front
Best documentary
Navalny
Best sound
All Quiet On The Western Front
British short animation
The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse by Charlie Mackesy
Outstanding British film
The Banshees Of Inisherin
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