Chris Rock’s mom is finally addressing Will Smith’s infamous slap in the face at the 2022 Oscars.
“When Will hit Chris, he hit us all,” Rosalie “Rose” Rock told South Carolina news station WIS-TV Friday, marking her first interview since the March 27 incident.
“But he really hit me. Because if you hurt my child, you hurt me.”
The 77-year-old South Carolina native admitted like many viewers at home, she initially thought the televised slap was staged.
She said it wasn’t until Smith, 53, “started using profanity” aimed at Chris, 57, that she realized the part wasn’t fake.
Rose was also asked in the interview what she would like to say to Smith today if the two could talk.
“I have no idea what I would say other than ‘What on earth were you thinking? Because you slapped me, but so many things could have happened from that,'” she explained. “Chris could have kicked back and fallen and you really could have been taken out in handcuffs. So you weren’t thinking.”
The comedian’s mother said she initially thought the slap was staged. Getty Images
Rose further recalled the incident and claimed Smith made Ms Jada Pinkett Smith’s day.
“Because she was thinking about the laugh when it happened,” Rose said, referring to her son’s joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head.
“Nobody heard his speech. No one could just be in the moment because everyone was sitting there saying, ‘What just happened?’”
Rose told the outlet that Chris is “doing fine” now, but everything that happened is “still being processed.”
Will Smith slammed Rock after making joke about his wife’s shaved head. Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
As Page Six previously reported, Smith stormed the stage and attacked Chris after the comedian quipped, “Jada I love you ‘GI Jane 2’ can’t wait to see it.”
The 50-year-old Red Table Talk host, who has been vocal about her struggles with alopecia, rolled her eyes before her husband approached the stage and repeatedly shouted, “Keep my wife’s name out of your frigging mouth. “
Chris responded at the time by saying, “Wow, Will Smith just blew me away,” before defending what was “just a ‘GI Jane’ joke.”
He added, “That was the greatest night in television history.”
Smith has since resigned from the academy and has not been eligible to attend the Oscars for a decade. EPA
Chris has since joked that he won’t be addressing the slap that’s been heard around the world until he sees some money.
“I’m fine. I’ve got a whole show and I won’t talk about that until I get paid,” he said last week during a comedy set at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, Calif., according to the Desert Sun. “The live is good. I got my hearing back.”
Although Chris has declined to press charges against Smith, the “King Richard” actor has since resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and will not be allowed to attend any of its events, including the Academy Awards, for the next 10 years.