Since he was slapped by Will Smith at the Oscars, Chris Rock has been touring alongside some of Hollywood’s best comedians. And during some of those shows, Rock has briefly spoken about the incident.
While he’s never said too much, over the last several months Rock has revealed that the slap hurt and caused him to lose some of his hearing for a period of time. Back in July, while on stage with Dave Chappelle and Kevin Hart, Rock addressed the slap saying, “Anyone who says words hurt has never been punched in the face. I’m not a victim. Yeah, that sh*t hurt, motherf***er. But I shook that sh*t off and went to work the next day. I don’t go to the hospital for a paper cut.”
Hart would go on to gift Rock a goat on stage, calling him one of the greatest comedians of all time. Rock would go on to name the goat Will Smith.
Chris Rock Just Publicly Slammed Will Smith’s Apology Video in a Big Way
Shortly after taking the stage at Madison Square Garden, Smith took to Instagram following a months-long hiatus to share a video. In that video, he talked about the slap and again apologized to Chris Rock and offered him an open invitation whenever he was ready to talk.
According to a source close to Chris Rock, who talked to People Magazine back in August, the comedian has nothing to say to Will Smith. “Chris doesn’t need to talk. This is clearly something that bothers Will more than Chris. Will needs to deal with his issues. Chris is fine,” the source explained to People.
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“The fact that he is making jokes about it already is a good thing,” the source says. “That means he is assessing it. But the stress of the slap and the aftermath has not taken over his life. Quite the opposite.”
However, during Rock’s latest comedy show on September 3, he finally addressed Smith’s apology video personally. While on stage, Rock said, “f*ck your hostage video.”
He continued adding that Smith impersonated “a perfect man for 30 years” before revealing he was “just as ugly as the rest of us” when he slapped Rock onstage. He also referred to Will as “Suge Smith,” seemingly comparing him to the Row Records executive Suge Knight who is in prison for manslaughter, The Guardian reports.
Chapelle, who shared the stage with Rock yet again, asked the comedian if the slap hurt. To which Rock responded with a similar answer he’s given in the past.
“G*dd*mn right … the m*therf*cker hit me over a b*llsh*t joke – the nicest joke I ever told,” Rock told Chapelle.