"I got smacked by the softest n**** that ever rapped," he quipped.
Chris Rock was slapped by Will Smith on Oscars night in March. Since then Smith's career has been seeing a downward trend as more and more of his projects are being stalled.
A month later, Dave Chappelle was attacked during his show at the Hollywood Bowl. The 23-year-old man, Isaiah Lee, was carrying a replica gun that contained a switchblade. Lee pleaded not guilty today to four misdemeanor counts. If he manages to post bail and is released, he was ordered to remain at least 100 yards away from Chappelle and the Hollywood Bowl, as per Deadline.
After attacking Dave Chappelle, the man was reportedly jumped by 10-20 people before being arrested pic.twitter.com/LmHemKahVa
— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) May 4, 2022
The two comedians then came together to talk about their respective experiences after being attacked.
Rock and Chappelle were able to laugh about their attack during a "secret show" at The Comedy Store in L.A. where they performed a surprise set as per Rap-Up. Stars like Diddy, Kim Kardashian, and Yasiin Bey attended the show. Chappelle was a last-minute addition to the line-up. He immediately went into the topic of being attacked at the Hollywood Bowl. He added that many people had reached out after the incident: “A lot of people love me, it turns out.” He was soon joined by Rock onstage.
“At least you got smacked by someone of repute,” Chappelle said of Will Smith slapping Chris Rock. “I got smacked by a homeless guy with leaves in his hair.”
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) May 6, 2022
Rock quipped back, “I got smacked by the softest n–– that ever rapped.” https://t.co/iNXdxIE95Z
“At least you got smacked by someone of repute!” Chappelle jested to Rock about the Oscar slap incident, as per The Hollywood Reporter. “I got smacked by a homeless guy with leaves in his hair.” To this, Rock responded, “I got smacked by the softest n**** that ever rapped.” When the incident took place, on May 5, Rock was also present at the venue. Following the event, he joined Dave on stage and delivered a hell of a one-liner about the moment and said: “Was that Will Smith?” Fans noted how it was a perfect set-up for Rock to crack that joke.
I thought this was a joke, it actually happened. After Dave Chappelle gets tackled onstage, Chris Rock grabs the mic and says “was that Will Smith?” pic.twitter.com/8MoCO8L0iB
— Ezra (@EzraCeleste) May 4, 2022
But this is not the first time he has spoken about the infamous incident. Speaking at the Fantasy Springs Resort-Casino, Rock addressed the incident by saying: "I’m OK, I have a whole show and I’m not talking about that until I get paid. Life is good," and added, "I got my hearing back." He had previously revealed that he wrote a whole show about the incident and had said, "I’m still kind of processing what happened. So, at some point, I’ll talk about that s***. And it will be serious and funny."
Rock has since not said much about the incident. He refused to press charges against Smith at the time but ticket sales for his stand-up shows have sky-rocketed after the incident.