Chris Rock and Will Smith continue to try and move forward from their Oscar slap earlier this year. Each man has taken on different roles and discussed the incident at varying lengths in an attempt to put some distance between themselves and the embarrassing night. Never one to miss the chance at a punchline, Chris Rock recently opened up yet again about what happened that evening and why he opted not to fight back after being hit in the face.
Chris Rock was already in the middle of promoting a comedy tour when he got attacked at the Oscars. The whole thing worked in his favor as it instantly drove up sales of his tickets. In response to so many people wanting to see him, Rock embarked on a second tour after that with Kevin Hart. During several stops, Rock opened up about his thoughts on Will Smith. Initially, he declined to talk about it; but eventually began dropping jokes here and there.
He compared him to Suge Knight at a few stops and talked about shaking the whole thing off and going back to work the next day. During one stop, Dave Chappelle gifted him a goat that they named Will Smith while on stage. His jokes would eventually land him in trouble, especially when he joked that his attack was similar to the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson. It had people wondering if Smith was justified afterall.
Smith has been pretty quiet, opting to let things blow over instead. He did release a written statement on social media before doing a more direct one speaking to fans in a video. His wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, addressed it in an episode of Red Table Talk. Rather than speak on the men and what transpired, she opted to focus on people suffering from alopecia instead.
Will is now gearing up to return to the screen with new film Emancipated. The period piece follows Smith’s character Peter. He is a slave who flees a plantation in Louisiana after being beaten “within an inch of his life.” The film shows his harrowing journey trying to get to the north. The film’s director admitted to being a bit worried that the Oscar slap would overshadow the project. He said he hoped viewers would “watch the movie and be swept away with the great performance by Will and all the real hard work that the whole crew did.”
Chris Rock decided to discuss the run-in during a recent comedy stop, this time opening up about their difference in size and why he didn’t fight back. “People were like, ‘Did it hurt?’ You’re goddamn right it hurt,” Rock stated. “Will Smith is significantly bigger than me. I am not the same size, Ok? This motherf*cker played Ali! I played Pookie from New Jack City!” he quipped. He said that he did not fight back because his parent raised him not to fight in front of white people. “Because I was raised, you know? You know what my parents taught me? Don’t fight in front of white people! No, I’m not a victim!”
Will Smith has not commented on the incident since his public apology. Maybe one day soon the two actors will meet and finally resolve their issues.
