The slap heard ’round the world continues to echo.
Source: Variety / Getty
Nearly a year later, Chris Rock fully addresses the infamous Oscars slap in his new Netflix special, Selective Outrage. The legendary comedian opened the show with new material that teased the slapping scandal involving he and Will Smith.
“They say, ‘words hurt.’ Anybody who says ‘words hurt’ has never been punched in the face”.
The Saturday Night Live alum then jumped right into a palmy pool of jokes and gave the viewers what they tuned in for.
“You all know what happened to me, getting smacked by Suge Smith. Everybody knows. Everybody fucking knows,” Rock said. “I got smacked like a year ago… and people are like, ‘Did it hurt?’ It still hurts. I got ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ears.”
The comedian assured the audience that they would never catch him recounting the incident on a talk show.
“I’m not a victim baby. You will never see me on Oprah or Gayle [King] crying. You will never see it… It’s never going to happen. Fuck that shit, I took that shit like [Manny] Pacquiao.”
He even explained if Will Smith’s palm upon his cheek was painful.
“Will Smith is significantly bigger than me. We are not the same size. Will Smith does movies with his shirt off. You’ve never seen me do a movie with my shirt off. Will Smith played Muhammad Ali in a movie. You think I auditioned for that part? I played Pookie in ‘New Jack City.’ I played a piece of corn in ‘Pootie Tang.’”
Rock also noted that the name of his special was inspired by #SlapGate.
“Will Smith practices ‘Selective Outrage,’” Rock explained. “Everybody who really knows, knows I had nothing to do with that shit. I didn’t have any entanglements.’”
This statement was in reference to the jaw dropping episode of The Red Table Talk where Jada Pinkett admitted she had an affair with singer, August Alsina.
“His wife was fucking her son’s friend. I normally would not talk about this shit… I have no idea why two talented people would do something that fucking lowdown. We’ve all been cheated on. Everybody in here been cheated on. None of us has ever been interviewed by the person that cheated on us… on television. She hurt him way more than he hurt me.”
The Primetime Emmy winner revealed he attempted to contact Will after seeing the episode.
“Everybody in the world called him a bitch. I tried to call the motherfucker. I tried to call that man and give him my condolences. He didn’t pick up for me.” The comedian then went on to list off all the people in Hollywood who called Smith a “bitch” after the “Red Table Talk,” including “The View,” “The Talk,” “The Breakfast Club,” “Drink Champs” and so on. “Everybody called him a bitch and who does he hit? Me.”
To some of the public’s speculation, the beef began between Rock and the Smiths after the 2016 Oscars. Will wasn’t nominated for an Academy Award that year and Jada attempted to incite a boycott.
“She fucking said [I] should quit because Will didn’t get nominated for ‘Concussion.’ What the fuck? So then I do some jokes about it. Who gives a fuck? That’s how it is. She started it. I finished it. Nobody’s picking on this bitch. She started this shit. Nobody was picking on her.”
Rock later transitioned to commentary about his admiration for “The Fresh Prince”.
“I love Will Smith, my whole life… he makes great movies. I have rooted for Will Smith my whole life. I root for this motherfucker.” Rock professed. “And now I watch ‘Emancipation’ just to see him get whooped.”
Viewers were stunned Rock didn’t fight back after he was smacked. The 58 year old said he had his reasons.
“Because I got parents,” Rock shared. “I was raised. And you know what my parents taught me? Don’t fight in front of white people.”
Time can heal your wounds but sometimes jokes are the best remedy.
Have you seen Rock’s new Netflix special yet?
