Chris Rock has addressed the joke he made about Jada Pinkett Smith that led to the infamous Oscar slap from Will Smith. You can relive the slap here, if you like:
Unless you spent part of this year living under a rock, it’s fairly likely you’ve seen the moment Smith stormed on stage and slapped Rock around the face before returning to his seat and shouting back: “Keep my wife’s name out of your f**king mouth.”
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His OTT reaction was in response to a joke Rock made about Smith’s wife - comparing her shaved head to GI Jane.
Until now, Rock, 57, has remained pretty tight-lipped about the whole situation, but as he embarks on his UK tour alongside fellow comedian Dave Chapelle, he’s finally shared his thoughts.
When asked by Chapelle if the slap hurt, he told the crowd at Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena: “God damn right… the motherf***er hit me over a bulls**t joke, the nicest joke I ever told.”
According to reports by TMZ, he’s then said to have continued: “A lot of people forget who Will Smith is. Then 10 minutes before he was about to get the biggest award… he acted like he was back in Philadelphia.
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“Will did the impression of a perfect person for 30 years, and he ripped his mask off and showed us he was as ugly as the rest of us.
“Whatever the consequences are… I hope he doesn’t put his mask back on again, and lets his real face breathe. I see myself in both men.”
Smith, who scooped the Best Actor gong for his role in King Richard on the same night as the slapping incident, apologised to Rock in July - admitting that he had behaved in an ‘unacceptable’ manner.
In a clip uploaded to YouTube, he said: “I’ve reached out to Chris and the message that came back is that he’s not ready to talk and when he is, he’ll reach out,’ he said at the time.
“I will say to you Chris, I apologise to you, my behaviour was unacceptable, and I’m here whenever you’re ready to talk.
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“I spent the last three months replaying and understanding the nuances and the complexities of what happened in that moment, and I’m not going to try to unpack all of that right now.
“But I can say to all of you – there is no part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave in that moment.
“There is no part of me that thinks that’s the optimal way to handle a feeling of disrespect or insults.”
Featured Image Credit: MediaPunch Inc/Alamy Stock Photo/ABCTopics: Celebrity, Chris Rock, Will Smith, Oscars