Chris Rock Is Already Joking About His Oscars Slap From Will Smith
Will Smith's notorious onstage slap of Chris Rock earned him disciplinary action from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. On April 8, less than two weeks after the incident, the Academy decided to ban Smith from the Academy Awards for 10 years. "We also hope this can begin a time of healing and restoration for all involved and impacted," the Academy said in a statement, via Deadline. For his part, the "Bad Boys" star did not protest the ban. The day after the Oscars debacle, Smith took to Instagram to offer an apology for his unruly outburst. "I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong," Smith wrote on March 28.
The following day, Rock took the stage in Boston for his standup comedy tour. Fans were eager to hear the comedian's insights on the infamous Oscars altercation, but Rock stuck to his other material. "I don't have a bunch a s*** about what happened ... I'm still kind of processing what happened," he told the crowd on March 29, according to Entertainment Tonight. Although Rock said he would eventually discuss the Smith slap onstage. "At some point, I'll talk about that s*** and it'll be serious and funny," he told the crowd.
Although Rock was reluctant to focus his set on the slapping incident, in later shows he did start adding some jokes about the unforgettable Oscars moment.
Why Chris Rock held off on Will Smith jokes
While performing at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in California on April 8, Chris Rock addressed the Will Smith slap. Rock did not go into great detail, but he had a couple jokes about the situation. The comedian clarified why he had been hesitant to discuss the incident. "I'm OK. I have a whole show and I'm not talking about that until I get paid," he told the crowd, per the Palm Springs Desert Sun. Rock mentioned he had recovered from the hit. "Life is good. I got my hearing back," he joked.
That was not the first time Rock made light of the Smith attack while performing. During his set in Atlantic City on April 2, a fan shouted out, "F*** Will Smith!" As security removed the heckler, Rock mentioned that he could have used that kind of protection earlier. "Where were y'all at the Oscars?" he joked to security, per Entertainment Tonight. Later in his set, the "Top Five" star joked that he would not discuss Smith that night because Atlantic City was a stone's throw from Smith's native city of Philly.
The Oscars fiasco wound up having an unintended positive impact on Rock's comedy tour — as ticket marketplace TickPick tweeted the day after The Slap, "We sold more tickets to see Chris Rock overnight than we did in the past month combined."