by Chris Rock didn’t hold back when he first spoke publicly about the controversial Will Smith Oscars slap incident on Saturday night.
The 58-year-old comedian unleashed a spate of violent attacks on the 54-year-old actor and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, 51, at the Academy Awards in the final minutes of his Netflix special Selective Outrage, nearly a year after Smith left the stage and punched him in the face.
More than an hour into his performance, the three-time Grammy winner addressed the infamous incident head-on when he referred to former rapper Suge Knight, who is serving a 28-year sentence after pleading no plea to voluntary manslaughter in 2018 to have.
“You all know what happened to me when I got hit by Suge Smith,” he began. “Everybody knows! Everyone f—— knows! yes it happened I’ve been hit People say, ‘Did it hurt?’ It still hurts! I got ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ear! But I’m not a victim. You’ll never see me on Oprah or Gayle, cryi
Chris Rock addressed the Will Smith Oscars controversy in his Netflix special, Selective Outrage, on Saturday night. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images))
He continued: “No, that will never happen. No. F— the s—.
CHRIS ROCK PLANT TO ADDRESS WILL SMITH OSCAR SLAP IN LIVE NETFLIX SPECIAL
Rock went on to note their height difference, noting, “Will Smith is significantly taller than me. We are not the same size.”
“This guy does his movies shirtless!” Rock exclaimed. “You’ve never seen me do a shirtless film. If I’m in a movie and I’m having open-heart surgery, I’ll put on a sweater. Will Smith has played Muhammad Ali in a film. You think I auditioned for that role “I played Pookie on New Jack City. I played a piece of corn in Pootie Tang… even in animation it’s bigger. I’m a zebra, he’s a shark.”
Rock reexamined his special’s title as he accused Smith of practicing “selective outrage” and referenced Jada’s “entanglement.”
“And for people who don’t know what everyone knows — Will Smith, his wife was their son’s girlfriend,” Rock said.
The comedian then mocked Smith for appearing on Jada’s Facebook Watch show Red Table Talk, where they discussed their infidelity.
“We have all been betrayed. All have been scammed. None of us have ever been interviewed by the person who cheated on us on TV,” he said. “She hurt him a lot more than he hurt me.”
“Everyone in the world called him a B—-,” he added. “I tried to call the mother and offer him my condolences; he doesn’t answer for me. Everyone called this man a b—-, f—— Charlamagne [tha God] called him a B—-, “The Breakfast Club” called him a B—– and “The View” and “The Talk”, and every rapper, they called him a B—-, his wife a predator, everyone called him a B—-. All! All! And who does he meet? Me!”
WILL SMITH JOKE ABOUT CHRIS ROCK OSCARS SLAP IN NEW VIDEO
Rock accused Jada of telling him not to host the Oscars after Smith wasn’t nominated for his performance in 2015’s “Concussion.”
“So I made some jokes about it, who cares?” he said. “That’s the way it is. She starts it, I finish it. That’s what the hell happened. Nobody picks on this B—-.
The comedian vented his anger at Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, after staying largely silent about the incident for nearly a year. (AP)
He reiterated that Jada told him to “quit his job” because her husband wasn’t nominated for “Concussion.”
“And then this n—- gives me a concussion,” he quipped.
Recalling how much he had previously admired Smith’s music and films, Rock said he “loved” him. “I’ve had a crush on Will Smith my whole life,” he said. “And now I’m watching ‘Emancipation’ just to see him cheering.” The comedian was referring to Smith’s 2022 Apple+ film, in which he plays a slave.
In the closing moments of his show, Rock explained why he didn’t physically retaliate after being punched by Smith.
“A lot of people say, ‘Chris, how come you didn’t do anything?’ ‘How come he didn’t do anything that night?’ Because I have parents. That’s why. Because I grew up.”
“You know what my parents taught me? Don’t fight in front of white people!”
During his performance, Rock jokingly referred to the actor as “Suge Smith,” a reference to incarcerated former rapper Suge Knight. (Robyn Beck/AFP)
Rocks Special, Netlfix’s first live streaming event, took place at the Hippodrome Theater in Baltimore, Maryland.
During the show, he threw jokes at a number of famous people, including Meghan Markle, the Kardashians, OJ Simpson, Elon Musk, Snoop Dogg, Dave Chappelle, Beyoncé, Doja Cat and Draymond Green. Among other things, he touched on “Wakeism”, “Cancel Culture”, transgenderism, abortion, politics, victimhood and the division of America.
Ahead of the show, Netflix promised in a press release the streaming platform issued earlier this month that the “seven-second delay button will take a night off” for Selective Outrage.
Rock’s special was flanked by a pre-show at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles, hosted by Malaysian comedian Ronny Chieng and featuring performances by Arsenio Hall, Leslie Jones and JB Smoove.
The event also included a compilation of recorded messages from a number of big names including Amy Schumer, Paul McCartney, George Lopez, Adam Sandler, Kevin Hart, Ice-T, Jerry Seinfeld and Matthew McConaughey among others. Following the special, Dana Carvey and David Spade hosted “The Show After the Show” with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Yvonne Orji, Smoove and Hall.
Almost a year ago, the infamous incident happened live on stage in front of a worldwide audience at the 95th Academy Awards.
Smith slammed Rock onto the stage at the 95th Academy Awards after the comedian made a joke about Jada. (Neilson Barnard)
Smith, who later that night won the Best Actor award for his performance in King Richard, was offended by a joke the comedian made about Jada.
“Jada, I love you. ‘GI Jane 2’ can’t wait to see it ok?” Rock had joked at the awards ceremony. He was referring to the 1997 film GI Jane, starring Demi Moore, who shaved her head to portray a fictional Navy SEAL candidate.
The Nutty Professor actress suffers from alopecia, an autoimmune disease that causes hair loss. Following Rock’s joke, Smith stunned the audience when he came on stage and slapped Rock in the face.
Prior to the special, the “Spiral” star had mostly remained silent on the attack, save for jokes he was trying out standing audience his “Ego Death World Tour”. Some of the material made it into his special on Saturday night.
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Selective Outrage was Netlix’s first live streaming event. (Netflix Twitter)
Smith first publicly apologized to Chris Rock and the Academy in a statement he posted to Instagram the day after the Oscars. In August, he shared a five-minute video on Instagram apologizing to Rock and others – including Chris’ mother, Rose Rock.
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The ‘Bad Boys For Life’ star revealed that he reached out to Rock to discuss the incident, but claimed the comedian was unwilling to sit down with him. Last week, Smith appeared to joke about the slap in a video he shared on Instagram.
The Oscars will air next weekend, March 12, but Smith won’t be there as he was Banned for 10 years after the hit.
