Going around town. Chris Rock spills more about how he felt after Will Smith got banned from the Oscars. During his on-going comedy tour, Rock talked about what he could and couldn’t say about the Academy’s decision to ban the King Richard actor after his infamous slap.
Smith and Rock made headlines last month during the 94th Annual Academy Awards on March 27, 2022 when Smith slapped Rock on stage. Prior to the slap, Rock made a comment on Smith’s wife, Jada ,calling her “G.I. Jane,” which led Smith to subsequently walk up on stage and slap him. “Will Smith just smacked the shit out of me,” Rock said in shock during the broadcast. “Keep my wife’s name out of your f—king mouth,” Smith screamed back after returning to his seat.
“I’m OK, I have a whole show and I’m not talking about that until I get paid,” Rock said during a comedy show in Indio, California, on April 8, 2022, referring to the Academy’s decision to ban Smith. “Life is good. I got my hearing back.”
The Saturday Night Live alum first talked about the slapping incident on the Boston stop of his comedy tour two days after the Oscars. Rock said, “I’m still kind of processing what happened, so at some point, I’ll talk about that shit. And it’ll be serious and it’ll be funny, but right now I’m going to tell some jokes.”
The Academy of Motion Pictures banned Will Smith from attending any of the Academy’s events, including the Oscars for 10 years on April 8, 2022. Smith accepted the ban directly after it was announced. The ban came a week after Smith publicly apologized to Rock on his Instagram post on March 28, 2022: I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.”