Chris Rock was spectacularly slapped by Will Smith at last year’s Academy Awards, but it’s the Duke and Duchess of Sussex who could be getting their own smackdown at the 2023 Oscars.
A public relations expert believes that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle may be roasted by big names at the ceremony, set to take place this Sunday, March 12, in Los Angeles.
While the privacy-conscious couple won’t be in attendance at the glitzy event, PR guru Matt Yanofsky said there’s a good chance they’ll still be referenced on Hollywood’s big night.
“Meghan and Harry are no longer untouchable in the US,” Yanofsky, who runs marketing and publicity agency The Moment Lab, told The Mirror on Friday.
He said the recent “South Park” episode ridiculing the exiled royals “ripped the Band-Aid off” for people to poke fun at the pair.
“‘South Park’ is a show that is grandfathered into pop culture. Nobody is canceling it, and it has a history of saying what everyone thinks but is scared to say,” Yanofsky said.
“By satirizing the couple, they’ve given other people permission to finally say what they think about Meghan and Harry, as we saw similarly with Chris Rock’s stand-up special.”
It’s unclear whether the Sussexes — whose popularity has plummeted — are worried about being the butt of potential Oscars jokes, whether by host Jimmy Kimmel, award presenters or winners themselves.
The Post has reached out to their representatives for comment.
In a February episode titled “The Worldwide Privacy Tour,” series co-creator Trey Parker mercilessly mocked Harry and Markle, implying that they were desperate for attention while publicly pleading for privacy.
The episode took particular aim at Prince Harry’s recent memoir, “Spare,” which was re-titled “Waaagh” in the cutting cartoon.
Although there were rumors that Harry and Markle were set to sue over the episode, reps for the pair trashed those reports, saying they were “baseless” and “boring.”
However, pundit Megyn Kelly claimed the couple would “never recover” from the very public ridicule.
“I feel this is a pronouncement that they have jumped the shark, they are not beloved and her hopes of running for president, reported hopes, are all but dashed,” Kelly said. “That’s not happening. When ‘South Park’ turns on you, there’s no recovering.”
Indeed, the hits have kept coming since the “South Park” episode aired.
Chris Rock ripped into Markle in his new Netflix special “Selective Outrage,” which hit the streamer last week.
The comic expressed exasperation at the former actress’ implication that some members of the royal family were racist.
“It’s the royal family!” Rock remarked in the special. “You didn’t Google these motherf–kers? What the f–k is she talking about, ‘She didn’t know’?! That’s like marrying into the Budweiser family and going, ‘They drink a lot.’”
The star also blasted Markle for claiming a member of the family expressed concern about how dark her baby’s skin color would be.
“That’s not racist,” Rock insisted. “Because even black people wanna know how brown the baby is gonna be!”
Yanofsky said it’s unclear which celebrity might hit out at Harry and Markle on stage during Sunday’s Academy Awards.
He also isn’t sure how, exactly, they would skewer the Montecito-based couple.
“It’s 50/50 if they joke about the couple [on Sunday] or if they start mocking Meghan and Harry in five years,” he said. “It’ll be interesting to see what happens.”
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