- Chelsea Bailey
- BBC News, Washington
Comedian Chris Rock said he’s tired of talking about the “infamous” slap he received in the face from American actor Will Smith at the last Oscars, but he wants to make one thing clear: “It hurts.”
This came in a lengthy talk by Rock, 58, about slapping the 2022 Academy Awards during a special live comedy show on the Netflix platform.
“You know what people say, that words hurt,” Rock said. But “anyone who says the words hurt hasn’t been punched in the face.”
And Will Smith announced at the time that the anger “with which he filled himself” caused him to do this act.
The incident became such a cultural de-escalation for the controversy surrounding violence in the United States that Smith was allowed to stay at the ceremony and received his first Academy Award for Best Actor.
Actor Rock was also praised for maintaining his composure after the accident.
And in the first live comedy show for the Netflix streaming service, “Chris Rock: Eclectic Rage”, the American actor tackled a wide range of issues.
“I’m going to try to put on the show without offending anyone,” Rock said, referring to Smith’s accident, “because you never know who might get offended.”
Rock devoted the best part of the show to talking about his crisis with Will Smith, and took advantage of the final moments to reveal his feelings about the slap he received.
“People like to ask, ‘Does it hurt? It still hurts!'” he said, referring to a famous comment Smith made on a 1991 sitcom, “It still hurts!”
Rock boasted of his steadfastness while receiving the slap from Smith, and said, “I took this blow like (Manny) Pacquiao (the famous former world champion Filipino boxer),” which sparked the enthusiasm of the audience.
Referring to the title of his Netflix show, Rock said he believed Smith was practicing “selective rage,” and that the slap was more related to Smith and his wife Jada’s troubled relationship than it was an Oscars joke.
Smith and his wife have openly admitted about the ups and downs of their relationship and have spoken openly about their troubles.
“We’ve been scammed, everyone here has been cheated, and none of us have ever been interviewed by the person who conned us on TV,” Rock joked.
“I hurt him more than he hurt me,” he added.
Social media exploded with reactions about Rock’s comments on the incident, with many wondering about the ability of actors like Rock to laugh despite the pain they feel.
Rock ended the show by talking about why he chose not to respond to Smith’s slap.
He said sarcastically: “Do you know what my parents taught me? Do not fight in front of the whites.”
