Chris Rock Appears to Call Will Smith's Recorded Apology a 'Hostage Video' in Comedy Set: Report
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Chris Rock appears to have responded to Will Smith's apology video.
During a comedy set with Dave Chappelle at O2 Arena in London on Saturday, the 57-year-old comedian said "f--- your hostage video," in an apparent reference to the recorded apology Smith, 53, posted to his YouTube and social-media channels in late July, Deadline reports.
Rock also called the King Richard actor "Suge Smith" and said "that s--- hurt," according to the outlet, referring to the moment in March where Smith slapped him onstage at the 94th Academy Awards.
"He played [Muhammad] Ali. I can't even play Floyd Mayweather," Rock also reportedly said.
Reps for Rock and Smith did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's requests for comment.
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Getty (2) Chris Rock (L); Will Smith
At the March 27 ceremony, before his win for Best Actor, Smith walked onstage and hit Rock on live television after taking issue with a joke about wife Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head. (Jada, 50, lives with alopecia.)
The slap led to months of fallout for the Best Actor winner, who resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and was banned from attending Academy events for 10 years.
Smith apologized to Rock in a statement on Instagram the following day before posting the apology video on his social media accounts July 29, explaining that night and apologizing directly to Rock and his family.
"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," Smith said. "So I will say to you, Chris, I apologize to you. My behavior was unacceptable, and I'm here whenever you're ready to talk."
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Chris Rock
During the opening night of his and Rock's joint UK tour at M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England, Chappelle, 49, said Smith smacking Rock at the Oscars was a "very strange choice," according to multiple news outlets.
He also saluted Rock's authenticity throughout the years before saying that Smith "did an impression of a perfect man for 30 years," per Deadline.
The Telegraph reported that Chappelle claimed the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air alum "ripped his mask off and showed us he was as ugly as the rest of us," adding, "Whatever the consequences are … I hope he doesn't put his mask back on again, and lets his real face breathe."
"A lot of people forget who Will Smith is. Then 10 minutes before he was about to get the biggest award … he acted like he was back in Philadelphia," Chappelle said, per The Telegraph, referencing Smith's award for Best Actor for his role in King Richard, which he accepted just moments after the slap.
Once onstage, Rock also addressed the moment, asking attendees, "Did that s--- hurt?" according to Deadline. "Goddamn right… the motherf---er hit me over a bulls--- joke, the nicest joke I ever told."
