Chris Rock made his first appearance since the 94th Annual Academy Awards on Sunday night.
Since then, he has performed two comedy shows at The Wilbur in Boston on Wednesday, People Magazine reported. During the 10 p.m. show, Rock told attendees at the venue, “I haven’t talked to anyone, despite what you heard.”
While his first show was at 7:30 p.m., Rock declined to mention the 53-year-old’s name at either event. However, he insinuated that he hadn’t spoken to Smith directly, despite earlier reports from Sean “Diddy” Combs claiming the two made amends. Later, the outlet confirmed that Combs had spoken to each separately but never mentioned a reconciliation.
Rock revealed in the second show that he faced real disappointment this week when his daughter did not get accepted into the University of Southern California. He told the packed house that he didn’t want “to talk about that sh–,” referring to Sunday’s award show.
An audience member said the Brooklyn native opened his first show, asking, “What’s up, Boston? How was your weekend?!”
Though he didn’t get into the specifics regarding last weekend’s events, Rock said he is “still processing what happened.” He told fans that he would probably talk about the incident later.
People Magazine captured more reactions from audience members who attended the show.
“At the end of the show, everyone stood up and cheered for him again,” one said. “There were a couple of hecklers … just yelling Will Smith’s name … but he didn’t address it. He didn’t even acknowledge it.”
Despite Sunday night’s altercation, the Emmy award-winner increased in popularity as ticket sales skyrocketed for his upcoming tour dates, per Sis2Sis.
The Oscars were held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday, where Rock presented the Best Documentary Feature award. He decided to crack jokes on the star-studded audience, including a G.I. Jane reference he made toward Pinkett-Smith and her shaved head.
“I love ya. G.I. Jane 2 can’t wait to see it. Aight?” the comedian said, pointing at the actress. As the audience laughed, the 50-year-old did not find the joke funny as she rolled her eyes from her seat.
Moments later, Smith walked on stage and approached Rock, striking him as millions of viewers were tuned into the telecast. After walking back to his table to take his seat next to his wife, Smith shouted, Keep my wife’s name out of your f**king mouth.”
Smith later apologized to the Academy for his actions after winning the award for Best Actor in his portrayal of Richard Williams in the film King Richard. Smith explained that he acted out of love and protection during his acceptance speech, saying, “Love makes you do crazy things.”
On Monday, Smith released a statement and apologized to the Academy and Rock for her behavior, calling it “unacceptable and inexcusable.” “Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear, and I reacted emotionally,” Smith said.
“I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line, and I was wrong.” He added: “I am embarrassed, and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be,” he continued.
The Academy responded in a statement, “The Academy condemns the actions of Mr. Smith at last night’s show. We have officially started a formal review around the incident and will explore further action and consequences in accordance with our Bylaws, Standards of Conduct and California law.”
The Academy revealed that Smith was asked to leave following the incident, but he “refused.”
“Things unfolded in a way we could not have anticipated,” read a statement issued to People Magazine. “While we would like to clarify that Mr. Smith was asked to leave the ceremony and refused, we also recognize we could have handled the situation differently.”
