Chris Rock unleashed a year of pent-up anger after he was punched in the face by actor Will Smith in his new stand-up comedy special on Saturday night.
The dramatic moment came during the 2022 Academy Awards after Rock, who was hosting the event, commented on Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair.
But in his live stand-up special, the 58-year-old rocker claimed that anyone who really knew the circumstances of the slap knew it wasn’t really about him – when he hit 54-year-old Smith of the “selective.” Outrage” accused because his wife was having an affair.
He even brought up the fact that Jada Pinkett Smith had only confessed to having an affair when interviewing her husband, noting, “His wife was her son’s girlfriend.”
Now Rock says he still has ringing in his ears and is watching the I Am Legend star’s feature film Emancipation “just to see him being cheered on.”
The special comes just a week before this year’s Oscars.
Chris Rock spoke openly about being punched in the face by Will Smith during a live stand-up performance on Saturday night
The Oscars slapping incident was sparked by Rock making a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, about how she kept her head shaved; The actors can be seen during the 2022 ceremony
The couple sat across from each other as they discussed their affair in 2020
Viewers eagerly awaited Rock to speak publicly about being slammed onto the stage on Saturday night.
Finally, after about two and a half hours, he finally brought it up to end the show.
“You all know what happened to me when I got hit by Suge Smith. Everyone knows, everyone fucking knows,” he began.
“I got beaten by that motherfucker at the damn Oscars. And people say, “Did it hurt?” It still hurts. I’ve got summertime in my ear, f***** drums.
“But I’m not a victim, you’ll never see me cry on Oprah or Gayle, you’ll never see it like, ‘I couldn’t believe it and I love Men in Black.’ No, that will never happen.
I took that punch like Pacquiao Mother F*****,” Rock said, referring to Manny Pacquiao, a professional boxer.
He remarked, “Will Smith is significantly taller than me. We are not the same size.
“Will Smith shoots most of his films shirtless. You’ve never seen me do a shirtless movie. If I’m having open-heart surgery in a movie, I’ll wear a sweater,” joked Rock.
“Will Smith play Mohammed Ali in a movie, do you think I auditioned for that role? He played Mohammed Ali, I played Pookie in New Jack City. I played a piece of corn in Pootie Tang. S*** even in animation this motherfucker [is] bigger: I’m a zebra, he’s a shark.
“But Will Smith is wielding selective outrage because anyone who knows what happened, anyone who actually knows, knows I had nothing to do with that shit. I had no entanglements.
“His wife fucked her son’s boyfriend.”
During his stand-up special, Rock mentioned Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s marital troubles and spoke about how Jada Pinkett Smith told Smith not to host the Oscars
Will and Jada Pinkett Smith are pictured at the 2022 Academy Awards last year
“Well, I wouldn’t normally talk about that shit,” Rock said. “But for some reason these idiots put this shit on the internet. I have no idea why two talented people would do something so damn. What the hell.
“We’ve all been betrayed, everyone in here has been betrayed. Neither of us were interviewed by the person who cheated on us on TV like, “Hey, I sucked someone else’s dick, how did that make you feel?” Why the hell would you do that? he asked, referring to a sit-down interview Jada Will gave in 2020.
“She hurt him a lot more than he hurt me, OK,” Rock insisted, noting that after the slap, “Everybody in the world called him Ab***.
“I tried to call the motherf***** and give him my condolences. He wouldn’t take off for me.
“Everyone called him ****,” the comedian continued. “And who does he hit? Me and you know he’s beatable. This is a b**** a** s***. That I what the hell happened, OK. I didn’t do anything to that motherfucker.
“Years ago his wife told me to quit the Oscars,” Rock shared, referring to 2016 when Jada tried to boycott the awards show amid the #OscarsSoWhite protests.
“I shouldn’t be hosting because her husband wasn’t nominated [Concussion], the greatest piece of shit ever. She starts, I finish.
“No one picks on that bitch – she started it. Nobody picked on her. And then this bastard gives me a concussion, OK. What the hell?’
“I love Will Smith, I’ve loved this man all my life – I saw him at the Open for Run DMC at Nassau Coliseum. I’ve rooted for Will Smith my whole life and now I watch Emancipation just to see him cheered. Got me cheering for Masa.
“A lot of people say, ‘Chris, why didn’t you do anything? Because I have parents, it’s because I grew up,” he concluded.
“And do you know what my parents taught me? Don’t fight in front of white people.”
Jada Pinkett Smith admitted to having an affair with singer August Alsina in a 2020 episode of her web series with her husband
Jada is pictured with singer August Alsina (left) at the 2017 BET Awards
Jada Pinkett Smith admitted to having an affair with singer August Alsina in a 2020 episode of her web series with her husband.
She explained that she first met August through her son, Jaden, and recalled that the singer, who would have been 23 at the time, was “really ill.”
Jada said: “And it all started with him just needing some help, I wanted to help his health and mental state.
“The upset of our family for him was initially about his health,” she told her husband. “We found all these different resources to help him through and from there you and I went through a very difficult time.”
At this point, Will admitted, “I was done with you,” while Jada added that they decided to break up for a “period of time.”
“And what did you do then, Jada?” Will asked, urging his wife to keep talking.
“Over time, I got into a different kind of involvement with August,” Jada explained.
The mother-of-two went on to respond to August’s claim that Will gave her “permission” to have an affair.
“The only person who can grant permission under these circumstances is myself,” she insisted.
“But what August was probably trying to communicate because I could see how he could take it as permission because we got separated amicably and I think he wanted to make it clear that he’s not a home robber because he’s not.”
When Will urged Jada to clarify what she meant by “entanglement,” she replied, “It was a relationship, absolutely.”
Jada continued: “I was in a lot of pain and very broken. As this relationship progressed, I definitely realized that happiness cannot be found outside of yourself.”
Rock joked that he’s now watching Will Smith’s film Emancipation “just to see him cheered on.”
A few years later, at last year’s Academy Awards, Rock poked fun at Jada’s hair loss, noting that she looked like she was gearing up for a role in a GI Jane sequel.
While Will Smith was originally seen laughing, when the cameras returned to Rock, he marched onto the stage and slapped the comedian in the face.
The actor then returned to his seat and began yelling at Rock from his desk, rebuking him with the now infamous line, “Keep my wife’s name private.” [of] your damn mouth!’
The actor subsequently received significant backlash from much of the entertainment industry for his behavior during the awards ceremony.
Smith was eventually banned from attending academy-related events for 10 years.