‘Punched in the face’: Chris Rock reacts to Will Smith’s apology
Hours after Will Smith’s latest apology for the Oscars slap, Chris Rock has slammed the star during his stand-up gig.
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Hours after Will Smith posted a bizarre video on social media apologising for slapping Chris Rock during the 2022 Oscars, the comic has commented on the controversy during a stand-up routine.
Rock compared Smith to former Death Row Records executive and currently incarcerated hothead Suge Knight, reported Page Six.
“Everybody is trying to be a f***ing victim,” Rock, 57, said during a gig at Atlanta’s Fox Theatre.
“If everybody claims to be a victim, then nobody will hear the real victims. Even me getting smacked by Suge Smith … I went to work the next day, I got kids.”
“Anyone who says words hurt has never been punched in the face,” Rock added, according to People.
Rock’s comments came after Will Smith posted a lengthy video recalling the moment he slapped Rock on-stage after the comedian made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
Smith said he “fogged out” during the award ceremony.
In the Instagram Q&A video, Smith revealed that Rock has still not returned his calls following the onstage meltdown.
“I’ve reached out to Chris and the message that came back is that he’s not ready to talk when he is, he will reach out,” Smith said.
“So I will say to you, Chris, I apologise to you. My behaviour was unacceptable and I’m here whenever you’re ready to talk.”
The video, filmed in a question and answer format, began asking why Smith didn’t apologise to Rock while accepting the best actor award for King Richard.
“I was fogged out by that point. It’s all fuzzy,” he said, before apologising to directly to Rock’s mother, Rosalie, brother Tony, and the whole Rock family.
“I saw an interview that Chris’s mother did, and you know that was one of the things about that moment, I didn’t realise, I wasn’t thinking about how many people got hurt in that moment.”
Asked if his wife Jada asked him to “do something” after rolling her eyes at Rock’s GI Jane joke, Smith said she had “nothing to do with it”.
“I made a choice of my own from my own experiences from my history with Chris. Jada had nothing to do with it. I’m sorry, babe,” he said. “I want to say sorry to my kids and my family for the heat that I brought on all of us.”
After apologising to his fellow Oscars nominees and Questlove, who was receiving an award during the slap, Smith said it hurts him emotionally to know he “didn’t live up to people’s image and impression”.
“I’m sorry really isn’t sufficient,” he said.
“I am deeply remorseful And I’m trying to be remorseful without being ashamed of myself. I’m human and I made a mistake and I’m trying not to think of myself as a piece of s**t,” he added.
The bizarre video came after Rock stood next to a live bleating goat named Will Smith to give his first major statement on the infamous face slap during the 2022 Academy Awards.
“Yeah, that s -- -- t hurt, motherf -- -- ker --”, he said during a show at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
Rock appeared alongside comedians Dave Chappelle and Kevin Hart, who brought the goat on stage as a gift to his mentor, as he broke his four-month silence on the slap.
“But I shook that s -- -- t off and went to work the next day,” ET Online reported.
Smith walked up onto the Oscar’s stage and slapped Rock square in the face after a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head.
“Keep my wife’s name out your f--king mouth,” Smith said after sitting down.
Rock didn’t miss a beat and continued presenting the awards at the Los Angeles ceremony in March.
Rock also addressed the slap issue during a show last week at New Jersey’s PNC Bank Arts Centre.
“I’m not a victim, motherf -- -- ker,” the star declared. “I don’t go to the hospital for a paper cut,” US magazine reported.
After the New York show, Hart posted photos of the three comedians on stage alongside the goat named Will Smith.
“Last night was by far the best moment of my career...I can’t even explain it...I can’t find the words...” he said.
“Last night was the true definition of a “EPIC NIGHT”...I love my brothers more than words can explain. We made history last night!!!
Last night was by far the best moment of my career…I can’t even explain it…I can’t find the words…Just know that last night was the true definition of a “EPIC NIGHTâ€â€¦I love my brothers more than words can explain. We made history last night!!!#RockHartChappellepic.twitter.com/x1XtRXZQCO
— Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) July 24, 2022
During an appearance on the Tonight Show, Hart explained to Jimmy Fallon why he brought a goat named Will Smith onto the stage.
“Chris is a mentor, friend, inspiration, but he’s a large part of the reason I am where I am today in my career, just from his advice, his insight, et cetera, and he’s my GOAT [Greatest of All Time],” Hart said.
“Like, he’s my guy and I wanted him to feel that and experience the world of understanding of how I feel about him in front of that audience. So I gave him the goat and said please give my guy his flowers.”
While Rock had previously said little about the slap, his brother Kenny Rock told The Los Angeles Times that Smith “belittled” him in front of millions and should be stripped of his Oscar immediately.
“He should have been escorted out of there,” Rock said. “I hold them accountable for that. He could have went up there and did anything you wanted to my brother. It could have been much worse than what he did.”
“I might have looked at it differently had he initially apologised when he got on the stage and cried and accepted the award, but he didn’t, so, right there that tells me that it is something else,” he added.
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