A few months later, people are ready to laugh about the 2022 Oscars slap, including the man on the receiving end of it, Chris Rock. The comedian brought up Will Smith slapping him at a stand-up show he headlined with Kevin Hart on July 24 at the PNC Bank Arts Center, Us Weekly reported.
“Anyone who says words hurt has never been punched in the face,” the 57-year-old comedian jokingly said during his set, adding, “I’m not a victim. Yeah, that s**t hurt, motherf**ker. But I shook that shit off and went to work the next day. I don’t go to the hospital for a paper cut.”
Sources told the publication that the Good Hair producer referred to Smith as “Suge Smith,” possibly referencing Death Row Record CEO Suge Knight.
Rock has addressed the incident in his previous comedy shows. After the Oscars, he went on his solo comedy tour and told his Boston audience, “I don’t have a bunch of s**t about what happened, so if you came to hear that, I have a whole show I wrote before this weekend. I’m still kind of processing what happened. So, at some point, I’ll talk about that s**t. And it will be serious and funny.”
He addressed it at the Hollywood Bowl after comedian Dave Chapelle got attacked on stage, claiming that someone with repute attacked Chappelle while he got slapped by the “softest n***a that ever rapped.”
Rock has been making light of the situation since he embarked on his comedy tour. Smith, however, faded away from the public eye only to emerge with an apology video to Rock and his family, Smith’s family, and the public on his YouTube channel Friday.
“It’s been a minute…” the beginning message read. “Over the last few months, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and personal work.”
Immediately after sitting down, the first question popped up, asking why he didn’t apologize to Rock in his acceptance speech. Smith stated that it was all fuzzy for him.
“I’ve reached out to Chris, and the message that came back is that he’s not ready to talk,” Smith declared. “And when he is, he will reach out.”
He then shifted to apologizing to Rock.
“So, I will say to you, Chris, I apologize to you,” Smith said, looking sincerely at the camera. “My behavior was unacceptable, and I’m here whenever you’re ready to talk.”
The Bad Boys actor extended his apology to Rock’s mother, Rosalie.
“I want to apologize to Chris’ mother,” he articulated. “I saw an interview that Chris’ mother did and, you know, that was one of the things about that moment I just didn’t realize and, you know, I wasn’t thinking but how many people go hurt in that moment.”
He added, “I want to apologize to Chris’ family, specifically Tony Rock. You know, we had a great relationship. Tony Rock was my man. And this is probably irreparable.”
He then dove into how he spent his isolated months “replaying and understanding the nuances and the complexities” of the incident.
“I can say to all of you, there is no part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave in that moment,” he continued. “There’s no part of me that thinks that’s the optimal way to handle a feeling of disrespect or insults.”
The next question was about Pinkett-Smith influencing his actions at the award show, in which he said that she didn’t have anything to do with it.
“I’m sorry, babe,” he directed to Pinkett-Smith. “I wanna say sorry to my kids and my family for the heat that I brought on all of us.”
He issued apologies to his nominees for “tarnishing” their moment and claimed he can still see Questlove’s eyes because it happened on Questlove’s award.
The last question asked if he had anything to say to those that looked up to him before the slap or people who felt as though the Hitch actor let them down.
“So there’s two things,” he began. “One, disappointing people is my central trauma. I hate when I let people down. So, it hurts. It hurts me psychologically and emotionally to know I didn’t live up to people’s image and impression of me. The work I’m trying to do is…I am deeply remorseful, and I’m trying to be remorseful without being ashamed of myself. Right? I’m human. And I made a mistake, and I’m trying not to think of myself as a piece of s**t.”
He added, “So, I would say to those people, I know it was confusing, I know it was shocking. But I promise you, I am deeply devoted and committed to putting light and love and joy into the world. And, if you hang on, I promise we’ll be able to be friends again.”
