Comedian Chris Rock described getting slapped in the face by Will Smith after making a joke about the actor’s wife.
Rock joked Jada Smith looked like G.I. Jane with her shaved head when he hosted the Oscars in March. Smith apparently became upset by the joke, reportedly because he thought it was an attack on his wife, who had shaved her head while suffering from alopecia. The actor jumped onto the stage, approached the awards host and smacked him across the face.
Rock appeared on a London, England, stage Friday with Dave Chapelle for a performance at the Marks & Spencer Arena. Chapelle asked Rock about the slap heard round the world, specifically wondering if it hurt.
“Goddam right,” responded Rock, according to a Daily Mail report. “The motherf***er hit me over a bullshit joke, the nicest joke I ever told.”
“Will did the impression of a perfect person for 30 years, and he ripped his mask off and showed us he was as ugly as the rest of us,” Rock said about Smith. “I hope he doesn’t put his mask back on again, and lets his real face breathe.”
After Smith slapped Rock, many observers were surprised he seemed to suffer no consequences for his impulsive act of violence. He was not escorted out of the ceremony and, in fact, later returned to the stage to accept an Oscar award for Best Actor for his performance in “King Richard.”
Smith apologized briefly in March. Earlier this month he issued a lengthy, rambling Instagram apology to his former friend. Rock apparently has not accepted the actor’s apology.
The slap that started the controversy may have been hard enough to rename a popular game. From now on: Smith slaps Rock, Rock breaks scissors and scissors cut Smith!
“Anyone who says words hurt has never been punched in the face,’ Rock reportedly told a Madison Square Garden audience recently.
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