Chris Rock is speaking out about Will Smith again, but this time, he’s making light of the infamous Oscars slap by having added the viral moment for new material in a recent stand-up show at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore. According to Decider, during one segment of the comedy gig, Rock shared that he’d recently seen Will Smith’s latest movie “Emancipation.” For those who haven’t seen the motion picture, the “Men In Black” star plays a runaway slave desperately trying to escape a Louisiana plantation after almost being killed.
Rock made light of his feud with Smith by jokingly telling the crowd, “The other day, I watched ‘Emancipation’ just so I could watch him getting whipped.” But that wasn’t all — the funnyman also touched on whether getting slapped by Smith in front of a star-studded crowd hurt, to which Rock said “Hell yeah, it hurt. He played Muhammad Ali! I played Pookie (in ‘New Jack City’). Even in animated movies, I’m a zebra, he’s a f***ing shark. I got hit so hard, I heard ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ears.”
This kinda stuff is why I will never side with Chris Rock because why are you being weird https://t.co/oM0gLRkKGT
— Meech (@MediumSizeMeech) March 3, 2023
While it’s been almost a year since Smith hopped on stage and slapped Rock for making a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett’s buzzcut hairstyle, it’s believed that the A-list actors still haven’t spoken since the altercation. Despite winning best actor that very same night for his role in “King Richard,” the Academy handed Smith a 10-year ban, saying that the ceremony had been “overshadowed by the unacceptable and harmful behavior we saw Mr. Smith exhibit on stage.”
While Rock has spoken about the Oscars debacle in his comedy shows before (to a limited extent), he has yet to actually address the matter in a formal statement, having previously rejected offers to share his side of things in a televised interview. The “Madagascar” star is reportedly saving most of his juicy material from last year’s Academy Awards for his upcoming Netflix special, “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage,” which premieres on the streaming platform on Saturday.
Rock will make history as the first comedian to headline a live comedy show in real time. All eyes will be on the father of two who sources say will include Will Smith somewhere in the special, and given that he and Smith still haven’t ironed out their differences since the Oscars slap, no topic pertaining to the incident appears to be off limits for the comedian.
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Smith has used his social media platforms to apologize to Rock on several occasions, including his official Instagram page and YouTube channel. In a video posted to the video-sharing site back in July 2022, the Philly native expressed his sorrow for his actions and even brought up Rock’s family, saying he didn’t think about how his actions on stage could’ve affected others around him.
“I want to apologize to Chris’ mother,” he said. “I saw an interview that Chris’ mother did. And that was one of the things about that moment. I didn’t realize and wasn’t thinking about how many people got hurt at that moment.”