Chris Rock is locked and loaded when it comes to addressing the “slap” heard around the world. One year after Will Smith came up on the 2022 Academy Awards stage to let the stand-up comedian have it, Rock is ready to talk about what went down.
Rock appeared on Netflix’s first-ever live stand-up special, “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage.”
The event, which streamed live from Baltimore, Maryland, featured appearances from fellow comedians Amy Schumer, Jerry Seinfeld, Arsenio Hall, Deon Cole, and Leslie Jones.
“The Daily Show’s” Ronny Chieng was the host.
It was Rock’s account of the infamous slap that took the spotlight.
“I got smacked at the f—ing Oscars by this motherf—er, and people are like, ‘Did it hurt?’ It still hurts,” he told the crowd. “I took that hit like Pacquiao.”
He went on to suggest that Smith practices “selective outrage.”
“Everybody who really knows, knows that I had nothing to do with that s—. I didn’t have any ‘entanglements,’” he said. He was referencing the relationship Jada Pinket Smith said she had with another man when she was separated from Will Smith.
“She hurt him way more than he hurt me. Everybody in the world called him a b—-. I tried to call the motherf—er, I tried to call that man and give him my condolences, he didn’t pick up for me.”
“Everybody called him a b—-. And who does he hit? Me.”
Rock later said that he has loved and rooted for Will Smith his whole life. “And now I watch ‘Emancipation’ just so I could watch him get whooped,” he said.
This “slap” now has its own Wikipedia page and has been given nicknames such as “Slapgate” and “The Slap.”
Speaking about the issue, Rock underlined that he wasn’t a victim.
“Anyone who says words hurt has never been punched in the face,” he said. “I’m not a victim. Yeah, that s— hurt, motherf—–. But I shook that s— off and went to work the next day. I don’t go to the hospital for a paper cut.”
