Comedian Amy Schumer said Wednesday she got death threats over one of her jokes at the 94th Academy Awards during an appearance on “The Howard Stern Show.”
The joke that sparked the outrage involved Kirsten Dunst, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Schumer pretended that Dunst was a seat-filler, something she had “talked before-hand” with the actress, she told Howard Stern.
More awkward moments at the Oscars: Amy Schumer, with one of the most unfunny jokes of all time, moved Kirsten Dunst out of her seat, calling her a “seat filler,” prompting husband Jesse Plemons to say “you know that was my wife?” pic.twitter.com/GrTKLH8dfa
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) March 28, 2022
“I got death threats,” she said. “They were so bad the Secret Service reached out to me, yeah, about that bit.” She said her reaction to the call was, “I think you have the wrong number, this is Amy, not Will [Smith].” (RELATED: Will Smith Banned From Academy Events For Ten Years)
“Not that I want Will to get death threats, but the misogyny is unbelievable,” she told the radio host.
Schumer said she received the death threats because the alleged callers “were like ‘you cant, who do you think you are to disrespect Kirsten Dunst like that?'”
She also said the Los Angeles Police Department called her because the threats were apparently “that serious and there were that many.”
Schumer addressed the backlash from the joke following the show on her Instagram story, where she said “Hey I appreciate the love for Kirsten Dunst. I love her too! That was a choreographed bit she was in on,” adding “Wouldn’t disrespect that queen like that,” according to Fox News.
The joke was overshadowed by the physical incident between comedian Chris Rock and actor Will Smith.