Chris Rock Speaks Out For The First Time About Will Smith’s Infamous Oscar Slap In New Netflix Special
Chris Rock has spoken for the first time about the infamous Oscar slap he received from Will Smith.
In his upcoming Netflix special, Selective Outrage, Rock, 58, opens up about the incident that dominated the evening’s conversations. He said: ‘What people want to know. . . did it hurt? Hell yeah, it hurt.
He referenced their respective roles in Smith’s 2001 film Ali and his 1991 film New Jack City: ‘He played Muhammad Ali! I played Pookie!
Rock added: “Even in the animated movies, I’m a zebra, he’s a fucking shark.”
Rock referenced one of Smith’s rap tracks, saying, “I got hit so hard I heard Summertime ringing in my ears.”
The Latest: Chris Rock has opened up for the first time about the infamous Oscars slap he received from Will Smith.
The Oscars exchange between Smith and Rock took place after Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head, saying, ‘Jada I love you GI Jane 2, can’t wait to see it!’
The reference was to the 1997 film that featured Demi Moore with a shaved head. (Pinkett Smith, 51, has been diagnosed with alopecia, which causes her hair to fall out.)
The Philadelphia-born actor then took the stage and punched Rock, then returned to his seat and yelled at him twice: ‘Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth!’ to a stunned audience.
Later that night, in his acceptance speech after winning the Best Actor Oscar for his role as tennis patriarch Richard Williams in King Richard, Smith apologized to the Academy and other nominees, but made no reference to Rock.
Smith subsequently apologized multiple times for the incident and resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences before receiving a 10-year suspension from the Oscars.
In an apology she issued in July for the incident in an online clip, Smith said her spouse “had nothing to do” with her attack on Rock.
“I made a decision on my own from my own experiences, from my history with Chris,” he said. “I want to apologize to my children and my family for the heat that has caused us all.”
He said: ‘I’ve reached out to Chris and the message he’s gotten is that he’s not ready to talk, and when he is, he’ll get back to me.’ So I’ll tell you, Chris, I apologize. My behavior was unacceptable and I’m here whenever you’re ready to talk.
Rock talks about the infamous prize exchange in his new Netflix special, Selective Outrage
He referenced their respective roles in Smith’s 2001 film Ali and his 1991 film New Jack City: ‘He played Muhammad Ali! I played Pookie!
Last month, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced it had established a crisis team ahead of this year’s March 12 ceremony.
“Thanks to the past year, we’ve opened our minds to the many things that can happen at the Oscars,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer said. TIME.
Kramer said that the institution has implemented the organization of a group focused on handling emergency situations at the annual event.
He said: ‘We have a whole crisis team, something we’ve never had before, and a lot of plans in place. We have run many scenarios. Therefore, we hope that we are prepared for anything that we cannot anticipate at this time, but that we are planning for in case it does happen.”
Kramer said the return of Jimmy Kimmel as host, the star of the night previously featured in 2017 and 2018, adds another layer of protection by having a veteran entertainer helm the show.
“That’s why you want someone like Jimmy on stage who’s used to dealing with live television — things don’t always go as planned,” Kramer said. “So you have a host in the venue who can really pivot and handle those moments…because of last year, we’ve opened our minds to the many things that can happen at the Oscars.”
Kramer said Academy officials “could have moved faster” in their reactions to the incident involving Smith and Rock, both on the night of the show and afterward.
“This is really our response after the show, and how we talked about it, and how we talked to Will and Chris, and our hosts and our members,” he said. “It was a time to really bring people together.”
Academy officials have implemented a new team to deal with crisis situations. A large statue of the Oscars was seen at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills last month when the nominations were announced.
The return of Jimmy Kimmel, the star of the night previously featured in 2017 and 2018 (pictured), adds another layer of protection by having a veteran entertainer helm the show, the Academy said.