Richard Madeley says Chris Rock is 'most unpleasant person' he has interviewed in his whole career

Following the shocking events that saw actor Will Smith slap comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars awards show last night, people have been giving their thoughts.

Reactions have been widespread and have ranged between outrage, support and poking fun at the situation through memes and puns.

The incident was also a talking point on Good Morning Britain on ITV, where hosts Richard Madeley and Suzanna Reid discussed the issue.

Madeley claimed he has “skin in that game” and went on to claim that Rock is the most “unpleasant” person he’s interviewed in his whole career, beginning in 1972.

The presenter explained that he was asked by GQ Magazine who the most unpleasant person he’d ever interviewed in his career was, and said he didn’t hesitate to say it was Chris Rock.

He went on, explaining that he and his wife Judy interviewed Rock for their Channel 4 show to promote a Madagascar film and said the interview was a bit of a car crash.

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Madeley said: “Without going into detail, it was a pre-recorded interview – had it been live we would have abandoned it.

“He was the most unpleasant, rude, aggressive, unlikeable human being I’ve ever interviewed on camera, without question.”

The hosts went on to discuss the morality of the incident that unfolded at the Oscars, and the pair didn’t see eye-to-eye.

Reid argued: “Obviously you can see Will was furious about what was said – and I'm not defending the joke -– but really? It's 2022 and it's OK to get up on stage and hit somebody.”

But Madeley argued: “It's clearly not OK but it's happened and once it's happened you have to analyse the motives behind it.

“What I'm trying to suggest is, although you can say it was wrong, is it something you can say was understandable in the heat of the moment.”

Reid went on to say that she believes Smith is a “lovely guy” but ultimately, “I don't think it's OK that he did it.”

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