Rob Schneider went on a scathing rant about Will Smith this week, calling the actor an "a--hole," "liar" and "douchebag," RadarOnline.com can report.
Schneider, 60, was a guest on The Kyle & Jackie O Show Tuesday and pulled no punches as he expressed the disdain he felt about the moment the King Richard star, 55, notoriously slapped Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards.
The actor and comedian, who worked with Rock on Saturday Night Live in the early '90s, told the Australian radio hosts that before the slap heard 'round the world, Smith had been "hiding the fact of who he really is, and it was exposed that night."
Schneider chided Smith as "really an asshole...to do that in front of all those people to a really great, legendary comedian," calling Rock "literally the best comedian of our generation."
After the explosive ordeal, the Deuce Bigalow actor recalled being "in a sticky situation" because he was on the Academy Awards committee tasked with deciding how to "punish" Smith over the incident. Therefore, he explained, he "wasn't allowed to say anything at that time."
"Will Smith is a tw--," he asserted. Co-host Jackie O Henderson said that when she met the Men in Black star, he was always pleasant.
Schneider cut in, "Like, the nicest, most wonderful—," to which Henderson confirmed, "Yes!"
"He's a liar," the comedian declared, going on to call Smith a "complete utter fraud."
"Really?" co-host Kyle Sandilands asked in disbelief. Henderson said that after the 2022 awards show, "we all thought in that time, oh he was under all this pressure though, and it was a snapped moment."
"Well, Kyle's been under pressure, you've been under pressure...No no, Will is a douchebag," Schneider retorted.
He then called the Academy panel "cowardly" for reacting in a way that was too "politically correct," suggesting that "if I would have done that, I would have been hauled out to prison." The committee was "so worried about being, you know, racist, or whatever."
After a few weeks of deliberation, the panel announced it had agreed to ban Smith from the awards show for 10 years.
Schneider argued the "violence" displayed by Smith warranted a more severe reaction, "no matter who, what the color of your skin, your religion, it doesn't matter. If you commit a crime in front of other people, you get hauled out of there."
Sandilands wondered whether Schneider had any sympathy for the fact that the actor was "standing up for his misses." Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, was the butt of Rock's G.I. Jane joke that prompted the actor to fly off the handle.
"It doesn't matter! You can't hit another dude," Schneider clapped back, "It's a joke. And I also thought it was a very mild joke."
The SNL veteran went on to explain that he was in Mexico directing a movie when he learned about the slap, recalling his reaction: "Get out of here, it didn't happen."
After making some phone calls and learning the news was indeed true, he indicated that he tried reaching out to Rock, but "he didn't want to talk to anybody," adding, "I don't blame him."
"It took him a while to get to the point where he could react to it, because it was a lot," Schneider claimed, "He's a very sensitive great guy, and he's literally a genius."
RadarOnline.com exclusively reported in September 2022 that Smith had been banned from SNL for life due to the Oscars incident.
"Smith will never ever be invited back to SNL after what he did to Chris," an insider told this outlet. "The show is a temple comedian, and no one wants him around anymore. Forget hosting, Will won’t even be able to get a ticket to sit in the audience anymore. He’s not welcome."