Chris Rock Offers Choice Words to the Academy for Snubbing This Actor

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The stand-up comic is calling out the Oscars, but not for the reason you think.

Chris Rock seems to have another bone to pick with the Academy of Motion Pictures—but no, this one doesn't involve Will Smith.

The 58-year-old funnyman recently called out the Academy for snubbing who he believes is one of Hollywood's hardest-working comedians: Adam Sandler—or, as he calls him, "The Sandman."

The Death at a Funeral actor gave a speech to honor Sandler, 56, who was the recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center this past week. While speaking about the talent of the 50 First Dates star, Rock insisted the Academy is a bunch of "f-----g assholes" for overlooking his longtime friend.

"If they don't want to give my man his props, then we will tonight," Rock said while up on stage, as reported by Forbes

"Nobody works as hard as the Sandman, nobody comes even close," he added of Sandler, who has never received an Oscar nomination for any of his acclaimed performances.

Other comedians and costars of Sandler also took the stage to honor his achievements, including Drew Barrymore, Conan O'Brien, Jennifer Aniston and more notable names.

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It's no surprise to hear that Rock might have some strong feelings toward the Academy, considering he was slapped on stage while hosting last year's event by Smith, who went on to receive the Best Actor award of the night.

In the aftermath of the chaos, the Academy was peppered with backlash over the failure to intervene during the situation, although an apology was later issued by both the Academy and Smith himself, who was also barred from attending the award show for the next 10 years.

Rock—who opted out of hosting the 2023 Oscars event this year—has fortunately been able to laugh about what transpired last year, and he definitely has made his audiences laugh about it as well.

While making a joke at the Mark Twain Prize Ceremony last week, Rock pointed out his similarity to Paul Pelosi, who was also the victim of a physical assault in 2022 (though his was significantly more severe and actually landed him in the hospital to undergo surgery). Pelosi, 82, appeared in the audience at the event, laughing along with Rock's joke, as seen in video footage from the night obtained by CNN.

Rock also mentioned the infamous slap in his newly-released live stand-up special for Netflix, joking that his face "still hurts!" and adding, "I got 'Summertime' ringing in my ears!" as Parade previously reported.

"But I'm not a victim, baby. You will never see me on Oprah or Gayle [King] crying," he insisted. "You will never see it. Never gonna happen!"

Next: Adam Sandler Has Major Opinions About Jennifer Aniston's Dating Life