Rock has since not said much about the incident but ticket sales for his stand-up shows have sky-rocketed since.
It has been over two weeks since Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars. Since then, Smith has been facing a lot of heat and has even been banned by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), including the Oscars, for the next 10 years. Many of his projects have also been put on hold.
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 sky-rocketed since then. He is now finally talking about the slap but it is not what the people want to hear.
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 then went on to talk about other topics including people who are afraid of offending anyone. There were no electronic gadgets allowed inside the venue, as per Deadline and there are no videos of the talk. He also spoke about corporate attempts at diversity, Hilary Clinton, the Kardashians, and his new life as a single dad.
Chris Rock Reveals When He’ll Speak About That Will Smith Slap At California Show https://t.co/YcMZXoUd74
— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) April 10, 2022
Before this, Rock had a show in Boston on March 31 where he said a bit more about what went down on Oscar night. He was received with a standing ovation at the Wilbur Theater. “How was your weekend?” he started off the show with a wink, reported Variety. "I don’t have a bunch of s*** about what happened, so if you came to hear that, I have a whole show I wrote before this weekend. 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."
On Oscar night, Rock was presenting an award and as a prelude made an ill-advised joke about Jada Pinkett Smith's hair. In reference to her bald head, he said, "Jada I love you...G.I Jane 2 can't wait to see it." Jada visibly rolled her eyes in response and before anyone could tell what was happening, Smith was on stage and slapped Rock. He returned to his seat and shouted: "Keep my wife's name out of your f***ing mouth." Rock responded by saying, "Wow, Will Smith just smacked the s*** out of me," before carrying on with the show.
BREAKING: Will Smith has been banned for 10 years from attending the Oscars or any other academy event, following his slap of Chris Rock at the Academy Awards. https://t.co/zNSae0ocdD
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 8, 2022
Smith then won the Oscar for Best Male lead and took the opportunity to apologize to the academy and the attendees. Later, he even released a public apology to Rock stating: "I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness," and also added, "Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behavior at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally."