Trevor Noah opened up the 2022 Grammys in Las Vegas by poking fun at Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the 94th Academy Awards last weekend.
The Grammys host slipped in a subtle dig at the much-talked about moment during the end of his opening bit.
After shouting out a bunch of musicians in attendance like Billy Porter, BTS, Lady Gaga, Jared Leto, Justin Bieber and Billie Eilish, Noad said, “We’re gonna be listening to some music, we’re going to be dancing, we’re going to be singing, we’re going to be keeping people’s names out our mouths.”
The MGM Grand Garden Arena audience quickly understood the reference and responded with applause.
“And we’re going to be giving out awards all throughout the night,” Noah added.
He also referred to the evening as a concert and “a musical Madame Tussauds.”
Following the comedian’s introduction, Olivia Rodrigo made her Grammy debut and performed her hit song “Drivers License.”
Then, fresh off his Oscar win last week for best documentary feature, Questlove took the stage to hand out the first award of the night.
“Alright, I’m going to present this award and I trust that you people will stay 500 feet away from me. Just playing,” Questlove said before the list of nominees was shown.
Questlove accepted his Oscar just minutes after Smith walked onstage and slapped Rock.
On Monday, the musician, whose birth name is Ahmir Thompson, returned to “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and told host Jimmy Fallon that he was meditating when the shocking incident occurred.
“When I opened my eyes, I didn’t realize, like, ‘Why is everyone so quiet?’ I literally was not present for that whole, entire moment,” he explained.
The “Summer of Soul” director continued, “And as I’m walking to the stage, I’m kind of putting two and two together and I realize that that was a real moment, like, maybe three seconds before I spoke words. In my mind, they’re just doing a sketch or whatever and I’m just like, ‘OK, Ahmir, remember to thank your mom, your dad.’ So I was not present at all. I was just in a blank space.”