He has alleged that Jada Pinkett Smith’s infidelity was the cause of Will Smith's outburst. Photo / AP
He has alleged that Jada Pinkett Smith’s infidelity was the cause of Will Smith's outburst. Photo / AP
Chris Rock has finally broken his silence on the infamous slap he received from fellow actor Will Smith at last year’s Oscars awards show, laying out a long and dramatic history between the pair that, he says, culminated in the awards show moment that left audiences stunned.
Rock’s latest comedy special, Selective Outrage, which aired live on Netflix on Sunday, was peppered with Smith references, some of which were genuinely funny — but it crescendoed into a stunning take-down that claimed, among other things, that there was a longstanding feud between the pair.
Rock opened his latest comedy special with a tongue-in-cheek joke about the viral moment.
“I’m gonna try to do a show tonight without offending … You never know who might get triggered,” Rock said at the top of the special, which focused on what Rock called “selective outrage”, as he took hits at the left and right alike for hypocrisy.
“You know, don’t people say words hurt? Anybody that says words hurt has never been punched in the face.”
Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at last year's Oscars. Photo / Getty Images
Towards the end of the show, though, the 58-year-old comedian made the stunning claim that the slap resulted from Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith’s infidelity.
“Y’all know what happened to me, getting smacked by (Will) Smith. A year ago last week, I got smacked at the f***ing Oscars,” Rock said in the expletive-filled set.
“A lot of people are like, did it hurt? It still hurts! I got Summertime ringing in my ears. But I’m not a victim, baby. You will never see me on Oprah, it’s not gonna happen. No, I took that hit like (professional boxer) Pacquiao.
“I know you can’t tell on camera, but Will Smith is significantly bigger than me … This guy does movies with his shirt off. You’ll never see me do a movie with my shirt off.”
Rock then said he had “nothing to do with” the slap, and even alleged that Pinkett Smith’s infidelity was ultimately to blame. He accused Smith of practising “selective outrage” over a TV interview where Pinkett Smith spoke with her husband about her affair with the singer August Alsina.
“Everybody knows what the f*** happened,” Rock told the hollering audience.
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. Photo / Getty Images
“Everybody that really knows, knows I had nothing to do with that … For people that don’t know, well everybody knows, but Will Smith’s wife was f***ing her son’s friend. Okay? I normally would not talk about this s**t, but for some reason they put it on the internet. I have no idea why two talented people would do something like that. We’ve all been cheated on, everyone in here has been cheated on. None of us have ever been interviewed by the person who cheated on us on television,” he said adding, “Why would you do that?”
“She hurt him way more than he hurt me.” The comedian then went on to claim that the feud between the two actors began in 2016, when Pinkett-Smith called for an Oscars boycott after her husband didn’t receive a nomination for his blockbuster hit Concussion.
“She f***ing said, ‘He should quit because Will didn’t get nominated for Concussion.’” Rock claimed.
“So, I did some jokes about it,” he said adding, “That’s how it is. She starts it, I finish it, okay?”
August Alsina and Jada Pinkett Smith at the 2017 BET Awards. Photo / Getty Images
“My whole life I’ve rooted for this motherf****r. Now, I watch Emancipation just to see him get whooped,” Rock finished the show to echoing cheers.
The infamous altercation between the pair of comedians occurred after Rock, who hosted last year’s Oscars, made a joke about Pinkett Smith’s shaved head, saying, “Jada, I love you, G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it!”
Smith stormed the stage and smacked Rock before shouting twice, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth!” to a stunned audience.
Rock’s reference was to the 1997 film featuring Demi Moore with a shaved head. Pinkett Smith, 51, has been diagnosed with alopecia, which causes hair loss.
Later in the evening, in his acceptance speech after winning the award for Best Actor, Smith apologised to the Academy and other nominees, but made no reference to Rock.
He revealed in July that the pair were still not on speaking terms.
“I made a choice on my own from my own experiences, from my history with Chris,” he said.
“I want to say sorry to my kids and my family for the heat that I’ve brought on all of us. I’ve reached out to Chris and the message that came back is that he’s not ready to talk, and when he is he will reach out. So I will say to you, Chris, I apologise to you. My behaviour was unacceptable, and I’m here whenever you’re ready to talk.”
