Nick Viall Reacts to Will Smith Slapping Chris Rock

Bachelor Nation star Nick Viall and girlfriend Natalie Joy enjoyed a date night at the 2022 Elton John Foundation Oscar Party!

“Extra’s” Katie Krause spoke with Nick, who weighed in on the Will Smith and Chris Rock incident at the 2022 Academy Awards.

On Sunday night, Will went onstage and slapped Chris, who had poked fun at Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head, saying he was looking forward to “G.I Jane 2.”

After the spat, Smith took the stage to accept his Best Actor award for his portrayal of Richard Williams in “King Richard.”

While Nick congratulated Will on his “amazing performance,” he said he “felt for Chris Rock.” He pointed out, “We always have the right to be angry, we have the right to feel what we do, but sometimes how we handle our feelings is important.”

“Might not have been the place to do that,” Nick went on. “It was unfortunate to see.”

Nick and Natalie have been together for nearly two years and things are getting serious!

Nick dished, “We’ve been living together for a long time. I think this is my longest relationship without ever breaking up.”

Viall called himself “lucky” to have Joy as his girlfriend.

They met when Joy DMed Viall on Instagram. They became Instagram official more than a year ago and will be celebrating two years in July!

As for the party, Nick praised Elton for his work raising money to fight AIDS. He said, “I have some close friends who have been diagnosed with HIV and thanks to all the amazing research that they’ve done, people are living very happy and successful lives.”

Katie also spoke to other big names about the Oscars smackdown between Smith and Rock.

Kyle Richards was sitting next to Will Smith’s ex-wife Sheree Zampino at Elton's party.

Kyle told Katie that Sheree “skedaddled” after the shocking moment,  adding, “She left. She’s hanging out with him with the family tonight.”

Did Sheree have any facial reaction to the moment? Kyle answered, “No, we were honestly just so shocked.”

Richards was “confused” and thought the moment was fake at first.  She admitted, “It was a little disappointing, to be honest, because I  wanted him to just, like, win and, like, walk away and be proud.”

While Kyle called Will “amazing” in the movie, she emphasized,  “It’s a little disappointing, like, you’re nominated for an Oscar, just  take it, be proud… Don’t taint it by adding that into the mix.”

Kate also spoke with Jeremy Piven, who is friends with Chris.

Piven said, “If you remember, Chris hosted the Oscars and  brilliantly… I just remember it was just kind of like better than  anyone, and Chris is a comic genius that has been doing it for many  decades and the premise being that these, indeed, are jokes.”

When asked if comedians should ever worry about needing to censor  themselves, Piven answered, “Chris is one of those comics that he and  [Dave] Chappelle are the GOATs and they’re like the youngest, oldest  comics… They’ve been doing it since they were kids. I think… The  contract you set up with the audience is that these are,, indeed jokes  and we have to embrace our freedom of speech.”

While Piven hasn’t reached out to his friend Chris, he said, “I can’t wait to talk to him.”

Jane Seymour was also vocal about what happened. She told Katie at the party, "I don't condone violence. I just don't see any  reason for it."

Seymour noted that celebrities were "being ridiculed in some  way," and even if Will was defending Jada, she didn't approve of his decision to slap Chris.

“Extra’s” Jenn Lahmers caught up with comedian Tiffany Haddish at the  Vanity Fair Oscars after-party, where she shared her reaction to Chris’  joke, saying, “When it was happening, I was like… Do you know that, that  joke that Chris did? I remember when that movie [‘G.I. Jane’] came out  and that was a way to insult a woman… her sexuality, her physique, it  was a way to call a woman a homosexual, basically… I remember that in  school that they would do that to people.”

“It’s kind of messed up,” Haddish went on.

Perhaps unknown to Rock, Jada has been open about her struggle with alopecia.