Jim Carrey says Jada Pinkett Smith is ‘a tough girl’ who ‘can defend herself’

‘Licence is being given to people to act out violently when they don’t like what they hear’

Jim Carrey has explained his earlier comments in which he said that Will Smith “should have been” arrested for hitting Chris Rock at the Oscars.

The actor was one of many celebrities to weigh in on the dramatic moment, which took place after Rock joked about Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head, referring to her as “GI Jane”. Pinkett Smith has been open about her struggles with alopecia.

Carrey said he would have sued Smith for “$200m (£153m)” had he been Rock, and said that the King Richard star “should have been” arrested.

In a later interview with Associated Press, Carrey clarified his comments.

“I see it as a larger issue, and it’s an issue of the boundaries being broken – boundaries and allowances and permissiveness to certain behaviours,” Carrey told the outlet.

“The fact is that licence is being given to people to act out violently when they don’t like what they hear. And it just shouldn’t be.”

The 60-year-old expressed empathy for Smith, suggesting that his actions were the result of pressure.

He said: “I also think that people not unlike Will, or myself, we live in a lot of pressure. We set up a lot of pressure for ourselves, [and] we’re encouraged by this country to never stop and never be satisfied and never look at our lives and going, ‘You know what? I’m enough. I have enough. I’ve done enough. I don’t need nine businesses.

“I don’t need to be a movie producer, director, writer, actor, star and have a record company, and be on TikTok, and be on social media, and have a reality show and share my innermost life on some therapy show.’”

Carrey continued: “It’s beyond our bandwidth. And we’re starting to see the symptoms of what it’s like to be living beyond your bandwidth and cracking under the pressure.

“That’s what that was. It was more than just an insult to someone’s wife. Jada’s a tough girl. She can defend herself. She wasn’t being physically attacked. What that was was someone who was beyond the bandwidth, and he thought more about how he was looking in that moment than what was the right thing to do.”

The actor concluded: “I don’t condemn [Smith] for it. It’s just wrong.”

Carrey is being called a “hypocrite” over his comments about Smith following the resurfacing of a video in which he forcibly kisses a then 20-year-old Alicia Silverstone at the MTV Movie Awards in 1997.

Smith – who is facing disciplinary measures – later apologised for slapping Rock, stating that he was “out of line and I was wrong”.

He also reportedly called the Academy bosses earlier this week to express remorse again for his behaviour.

Find the full list of 2022 Oscar winners here. See the latest updates and reactions from the dramatic ceremony here, and read about the biggest talking points here.