Could the Wayans brothers have predicted the viral Oscar moment between Will Smith and Chris Rock? At least that’s what some folks on social media appear to think after veteran comedian Marlon Wayans uploaded a vintage sketch in which his brother Shawn, who’s impersonating Rock, gets beat up by a group of some of the biggest pop stars of the millennium after firing off a series of jokes at their expense.
The year is 1999, and comedy royalty Marlon and Shawn Wayans are hosting the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. The ceremony was packed with big wins and unique sketches from the sibling duo, one of which the latter shared earlier this week following Sunday night’s incident.
Dressed in a cream-colored suit, Shawn walked back and forth across the stage. He also singled out several celebrities, including Britney Spears, Jay-Z and Diddy, and poked fun at an array of topics, including the Bad Boy founder for hiring the late Johnnie Cochran after he was indicted on bribery and stolen weapons charges.
In the clip shared by Marlon, someone who is seemingly supposed to be Diddy walks on stage and strikes Shawn down. Shortly afterward, Shawn is stampeded by a crowd of celebrity look-alikes.
“Maaaaan, not to ‘kick’ a brother when he’s down… BUT we predicted this sh-t exactly,” Marlon captioned the vintage clip. “When art imitates life then LIFE actually happens. Sh-t! We were way ahead of our time,” he added before reminding his online followers #thesejustjokes let’s laugh again.
Fans in the comments section were left in tears, many of whom agreed with the comedian’s thoughts on being ahead of the times, including one user who wrote, “Man your entire family has been ahead of their time honestly,” before adding, “Shawn was way funnier imitating Chris anyway.”
“Life Is Truly Full Circle,” commented another person. A third social media user wrote, “Brotha Shawn Wayans predicted the future like The Simpsons in here!!”
Marlon recently spoke on the intense moment with People during the Vanity Fair Oscar Party, telling the outlet, Smith, who won his first Academy Award for his role in “King Richard,” has always been such a classic dude,” adding, “I love them both.”
He continued, “Chris Rock, he’s always Chris Rock; you’ve got to expect that from Chris Rock. And sometimes when you’re best friends, worst things happen, and I wish it didn’t happen. … [I] hope they seek out and work it out.”
The “Wayans Brothers” star argued that as a comedian, “You’ve got to be able to crack jokes. You don’t know what somebody’s going through … he cracked the wrong joke on the wrong day. And sometimes you hit the wrong person in the wrong moment…. It was just bad timing.”