Former Oscars Host Billy Crystal Makes Slap Joke During 'Mr. Saturday Night' Dress Rehearsal

Billy Crystal is poking fun at the current hot topic in pop culture.

The 74-year-old star gave a curtain speech following the final dress rehearsal of the new musical Mr. Saturday Night, which has its first Broadway preview on Tuesday (March 29).

During the speech, the star – who hosted the Oscars for much of the ’90s – made a joke about the 2022 Oscars slap incident between Will Smith and Chris Rock: “We got through a show and no one got slapped. Unbelievable.”

Mr. Saturday Night is a musical adaptation of the 1992 film of the same name, and features Billy Crystal as Buddy Young Jr., the once outrageous comic star from TV’s early days. The musical’s story picks up 40 years after Buddy’s career flamed out as he “seeks one more shot at the spotlight, and while he’s at it, one last shot at fixing the family he fractured along the way,” via Deadline. Click here to see video of the speech.

Find out what the Oscars producer had to say about the slap incident.