Chris Rock Breaks Silence on Will Smith Oscars Slap During Live Netflix Special — Here's What He Had to Say

Ryan Schwartz and Claire Franken
·5 min read
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Chris Rock is hitting back. A year after the infamous Oscars slap, the comedian took aim at Will Smith during his latest stand-up special, the live Netflix event Selective Outrage.

Rock went off on Smith (and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith) more than an hour into the special. Here’s what he had to say…

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⬩ “You all know what happened to me, getting smacked by Suge Smith,” he began. “Everybody knows! Everybody f–king knows! Yes, it happened. I got smacked. A year ago, I got slapped at the f–king Oscars by this motherf–ker and people are like, ‘Did it hurt?’ It still hurts! I got ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ear!”

⬩ “I’m not a victim,” Rock declared. “You will never see me on Oprah or Gayle [King], crying. You will never see it. Never going to happen…. I took that hit like [Manny] Pacquiao, motherf–ker! I took it like motherf–king Pacquiao!”

⬩ “I know you can’t tell on camera… Will Smith is significantly bigger than me,” he said. “We aren’t the same size, OK? We are not. This guy does movies with his shirt off; you’ve never seen me do a movie with my shirt off. If I’m in a movie getting open-heart surgery, I got on a sweater. Will Smith played Muhammad Ali in a movie. You think I auditioned for that part? He played Muhammad Ali; I played Pookie in New Jack City. I played a piece of corn in Pootie Tang! S–t, even in animation, this motherf–ker is bigger. I’m a zebra, he’s a shark. What the f–k, man?”

Chris Rock
Chris Rock

⬩ “Will Smith practices selective outrage. He practices selective outage,” Rock opined. “Because everyone knows what the f–k happened. Everybody that really knows, knows that I had nothing to do with that s–t. I didn’t have any ‘entanglements,'” he said, referring to Jada Pinkett Smith’s affair with R&B singer August Alsina. “Now, I normally would not talk about this s–t, but for some reason, these n—as put this s–t on the Internet. I have no idea why two talented people would do something that f–king low down. We’ve all been cheated on; everybody in here’s been cheated on. None of us have ever been interviewed by the person that cheated on us on television. None of us! … She hurt him more than he hurt me, OK?

“Everybody in the world call him a b—h,” Rock continued. “I tried to call the motherf–ker and give him my condolences; he ain’t pick up for me. Everybody called that man a b—h, f–king Charlamagne [tha God] called him a b—h, The Breakfast Club called him a b—h… and The View and The Talk, and every rapper… they called him a b—h, his wife a predator, everybody called him a b—h. Everybody! Everybody! And who does he hit? Me! A n—a he knows! That is some b—h ass s–t.”

Chris Rock
Chris Rock

⬩ Rock then accused Jada of being the initial instigator. “Years ago, his wife said I should quit the Oscars. I shouldn’t host because her man didn’t get nominated for Emancipation, the biggest piece of s–t ever,” he said, before stopping to say that he “f–ked up the joke” and meant to refer to 2015’s Concussion. “She f–king said, ‘He should quit because Will didn’t get nominated for Concussion.’ What the f–k? What the f–k! So, then I do some jokes about her. Who gives a f–k? She starts it, I finish it, OK? That’s what the f–k happened. Nobody’s picking on this b—h. She started this s–t. Nobody was picking on her.

“I love Will Smith,” Rock said. “I’ve rooted for Will Smith my whole life… and now I watch Emancipation just to see him get whooped. Got me rooting for massa! ‘Hit him again, massa! Hit him again! You missed a spot, massa! You missed a spot!'”

⬩ Wrapping up, Rock responded to those who have asked him why he didn’t hit back. “Because I got parents, that’s why,” he said. “Because I was raised, OK? I got parents. And you know what my parents taught me? Don’t fight in front of white people!” The crowd erupted, Rock dropped his mic, and that was it. Show’s over.

Chris Rock Will Smith Oscars Slap
Chris Rock Will Smith Oscars Slap

The slap heard ’round the world occurred more than two hours into the March 2022 telecast, after Rock made a GI Jane joke aimed at Jada Pinkett Smith, who is bald and has previously spoken publicly about her hair loss condition, alopecia. Not long after the incident, Will Smith won the Best Actor award for his work in King Richard and delivered an emotional acceptance speech where he apologized to the Academy and his fellow nominees. He was subsequently banned from all Academy events, including the annual presentation of the Oscars, for 10 years.

The day after the Oscars, Smith extended a public apology to Rock, calling his own behavior “unacceptable and inexcusable.”  Four months later, he unpacked the moment in a YouTube video offering an extended mea culpa.

The live comedy event marked Rock’s second Netflix stand-up special — and his first since #SlapGate. His previous special, Chris Rock: Tamborine, premiered on the service back in February 2018.

What did you think of Rock’s response to the slap? Was it worth the wait? Grade the special via the following poll, then sound off in Comments.

Launch Gallery: What's New on Netflix in March — Plus: Amazon, Disney+, Hulu and Others

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