With the anniversary of the slap heard around the world right around the corner, Chris Rock couldn’t help but go off about what went down between him and Will Smith at last year’s Oscars during his new comedy special.
For those who need a refresher, the 54-year-old actor stormed the stage at the Academy Awards on March 27, 2022, and slapped Chris across the face after the comedian made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head. After returning to his seat, he shouted at the SNL alum to “keep my wife’s name out your f**king mouth.” The whole thing blew up with Will, who won Best Actor that same night, eventually apologizing and resigning from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He was also banned from attending the event for 10 years.
Related: Eddie Murphy Jokes About Will’s Oscar Slap And Explains Why He Did It!
While Chris hasn’t given a formal interview about the incident, he had taken a moment on his comedy tour to make a few jokes about it in the months afterward. Now, the 58-year-old isn’t holding back and talked in length about the controversial moment during his live Netflix special, Selective Outrage, at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre on Saturday night. During the show, Chris made several references to the infamous slapping incident, first saying:
“Anyone who says words hurt has never been punched in the face.”
He later joked about Snoop Dogg’s commercials, adding:
“I love Snoop, I’m not dissing Snoop. The last thing I need is another mad rapper, right?”
However, it wasn’t until the end of the special that he really went in on the scandal. The Madagascar actor began by remarking:
“Everybody f**kin’ knows. Yes, it happened, like a year ago, I got smacked at the f**king Oscars by this motherf**ker. People are like, ‘Did it hurt? It still hurts! I’ve got ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ears.”
Despite this, Chris insisted he was “not a victim”:
“You will never see me on Oprah or Gayle crying. Never gonna happen. I took that hit like Pacquiao, motherf**ker.”
From there, the Grown Ups star decided to throw some shade at Jada’s “entanglement” with August Alsina that happened when she and Will were on a break. Chris claimed the Fresh Prince Of Bel Air alum was “practicing selective outrage”:
“Everybody knows that had nothing to do with me. I didn’t have any entanglements. His wife was f**king her son’s friend. Now, I normally would not talk about this shit, But for some reason, these n***** put that shit on the internet. I have no idea why two people that talented would do something that low-down.”
Referencing the pair’s episode of Red Table Talk about the situation, he added:
“We’ve all been cheated on, none of us have every been interviewed by the person who cheated on us. Why the f**k would you do that shit? She hurt him way more than I did… Everybody called him a bitch, and who’s he hit? Me!”
Closing out his set, Chris brought up the comments Jada made about how he shouldn’t have hosted the Oscars since Will wasn’t nominated for his part in Concussion during the “#OscarsSoWhite” backlash in 2016:
“Nobody’s picking on this bitch. She started this shit… And then this n**** gives me a concussion! I love Will Smith… he makes great movies. I rooted for Will Smith my whole life. And now, I watched Emancipation just so I could watch him get whooped.”
Wtf. And as for why Chris did not fight back at last year’s Oscars? Getting in one last dig, he explained:
“Because I got parents! Because I was raised! And you know what my parents taught me? Don’t fight in front of white people!”
Since the Netflix special aired, many people have had mixed reactions to it – with some praising Chris and others slamming him for bringing up Jada again. See some of the responses to the show (below):
So many people including Chris Rock are blaming Will Smith’s behavior on his wife. That’s just misogyny to the core. And to pathologize him for his wife being in an open relationship? He enjoys that too. Only she gets the hatred for it.
— Kat Tenbarge (@kattenbarge) March 5, 2023
Will getting permission from Jada to slap Chris Rock again for her name coming out his mouth#ChrisRockLive #ChrisRock #WillSmith pic.twitter.com/NJCo50ZJ9j
— J_1neofakindnoocap (@1_ofakindnocap) March 5, 2023
Will Smith and Jada when they log on Twitter seeing what Chris Rock said on his Netflix special#ChrisRockLive #WillSmith pic.twitter.com/9hlXk6eLGc
— J_1neofakindnoocap (@1_ofakindnocap) March 5, 2023
Will Smith: keep my wife’s name… out yo – mouth
Chris Rock Live:#ChrisRockLive #ChrisRock #WillSmith pic.twitter.com/rIORt4t47Z
— J_1neofakindnoocap (@1_ofakindnocap) March 5, 2023
Remember Chris Rock punched down on Jada over her alopecia condition. All the deflecting he is doing bringing up entanglements is gaslighting. He knows that the world hates a Black woman with sexual agency, so he has to make that the topic, not how he violated and humiliated her. pic.twitter.com/wYDyVYVHeu
— Reecie @BlackWomenViews (@ReecieColbert) March 5, 2023
Once again Jada Smith did nothing to Chris Rock for him to be calling her a “bitch” and all these other things. pic.twitter.com/qtT5MLmLm8
— TV Fanatic????️ (@TvKhaleesi) March 5, 2023
Wonder what Will and Jada thinks about this special… Reactions, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments below.
[Image via Netflix/YouTube, Apple TV/YouTube, WENN]
