We had to wait a year. Slapped by actor Will Smith during the Oscars ceremony last year, in front of a global audience after a joke about his wife, Chris Rock finally fought back on Saturday March 4, during a stand-up number broadcast on Netflix.
This time, it was the American comedian, who had refused to file a complaint and kept almost total silence on the incident, who did not hold back his claws. On stage in Baltimore, he accused the Hollywood star of“selective outrage” (“Selective outrage”), the name given to this show broadcast live, a first for the Netflix platform.
Chris Rock claimed that Will Smith went after a less beefy man because he was upset his wife cheated on him. He recalled that Will Smith was widely mocked after an episode of his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith’s Facebook TV show, Red Table Talk, in which the couple discussed the extramarital affair she had had and how it had affected the actor.
” Why do that ? » he asked. “Everyone called him a bitch. They called his wife a predator”he said, noting that he had tried to“provide support for the actor when the information became public”. Actually, “She hurt him more than he hurt me”he also said.
“It still hurts”
In March 2022, the actor was on the Oscars stage and hit the comedian who had just made fun of the very short haircut of his wife who suffers from alopecia. A few minutes later, Will Smith received the Oscar for best actor for his role in King Richard. He later apologized to Chris Rock, but was banned from the Oscars − whose next edition will take place on March 12 − for a decade.
According to Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith has a particular animosity towards him because of an event that occurred a few years earlier, when she called on him to boycott the Oscars because her husband had not been nominated for his film. Concussion (Alone against all) in 2015. ” What is this mess ? So, did I make jokes about it? We do not care ! ».
“She said… someone should quit because her husband wasn’t nominated for ‘Concussion’ [qui signifie commotion cérébrale en anglais]. Ensuite, [Smith] gives me a concussion”he joked.
” People [me] ask “Does it hurt?”. It still hurts”he said, in reference to the slap received. “Will Smith is definitely bigger than me. Will Smith played the role of Muhammad Ali in a film. You think I auditioned for this? »he launched.
“I am not a victim”
While Will Smith has repeatedly spoken out about the incident over the past year, Chris Rock has avoided all the usual platforms where celebrities often go to express their feelings. He never sat down for an interview with TV star Oprah Winfrey, and turned down requests from many media outlets for an exclusive interview.
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“I am not a victim, did he declare. You will never see me cry at Oprah (…) You will never see it, it will never happen. »
The comedian, who sometimes seemed angry during his show, said that before the slap, he had always liked Will Smith, first as a rapper and then as an actor. “He had made great films. I’ve supported Will Smith all my life.”. But now he says he enjoys his latest film, Emancipationbecause a slave master defeats Will Smith’s character.