Five months after Will Smith slapped him onstage at the Academy Awards, shocking millions of viewers around the world, Chris Rock gave him another kind of slap at the Oscars.
Speaking to the crowd at a stand-up show in Phoenix on Sunday night, the comedian said he has been asked to host next year’s Oscars, according to the Arizona Republic. But he turned down the offer, joking that returning to Hollywood’s biggest night would be like returning to a crime scene.
Referencing the OJ Simpson murder trial, Rock told the crowd at the Arizona Financial Theater that going back to the awards ceremony would be like asking Nicole Brown Simpson to “go back to the restaurant” where she left her glasses before she was killed.
Rock also said he turned down a post-slap Super Bowl commercial offer.
Talking with Deadline in May, ABC entertainment president Craig Erwich expressed his willingness to see Rock return to the Oscars stage in 2023. Rock has hosted the show twice, in 2005 and 2016, the latter amid another controversy: the #OscarsSoWhite Firestorm.
The film academy did not respond to a request for comment Monday. The organization typically doesn’t share its discussions with potential hosts and isn’t expected to name a master of ceremonies for next year’s show, scheduled for March 12, until it gets closer.
In a roundtable interview with a group of reporters last week, newly appointed academy executive director Bill Kramer said the group seeks to put in the rearview mirror the shocking incident that led to Smith being banned from all events. from the academy for 10 years.
“We want to move forward and have an Oscar that celebrates cinema,” Kramer said when asked if the 2023 show would address the incident in any way. “That’s our focus right now. It’s really about moving on.”
While three of the last four Oscars have not had a host, Kramer noted that the organization is determined to have a host for this year’s show.
“We definitely want a host,” he said. “A host is very important to us. We are committed to having a host on the show this year, and we are already looking for some key partners for that.” (The March ceremony had three co-hosts: Amy Schumer, Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes.)
Rock’s show in Phoenix was the latest stop on an ongoing stand-up tour in which ticket prices increased after his altercation with Smith. On tour, Rock has stayed away from the drama of Oscar night, but on Sunday he joked about how much the slap hurt and he was physically outmatched by Smith, who has offered several apologies since the incident.
“He’s bigger than me,” Rock said. “The state of Nevada would not approve of a fight between myself and Will Smith.”
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