Chris Rock Breaks Silence on Will Smith Oscars Slap, Shuts Down Offer to Host Awards Show Again
Host Chris Rock finally breaks his silence following one of the most controversial incidents during this year's Oscars, and his call on hosting the awards show for a second time.
According to AZ Central, the comedian opened up about the infamous Oscar slap during his show at the Arizona Financial Theatre in Phoenix. After Rock mentioned about the circumstances a victim could get famous, a fan had urged him to talk about it, which prompted the comedian to wittingly reminisce Smith's role as Muhammad Ali in the 2001 film, "Ali".
"He's bigger than me." Rock told the crowd. "The state of Nevada would not sanction a fight between me and Will Smith."
During the show, Rock had also disclosed that following the aftermath of the slapping incident, the Academy had reached out to him with an offer to host the 2023 Oscars. Additionally, he was also tapped to star in a Super Bowl commercial. However, Rock revealed that he had turned down both offers.
Speaking on the offer to host the Oscars again, AZ Central reports that the 57 year old star had compared the awards show incident to O.J. Simpson's murder trial.
"Rock compared returning to the Oscars like returning to the scene of a crime, referencing the murder trial of O.J. Simpson, whose ex-wife's killing began with her leaving a pair of eyeglasses at an Italian restaurant." According to AZ Central. "Rock said returning to the award ceremony would be like asking Nicole Brown Simpson "to go back to the restaurant."
No Acknowledgement of Smith's Apology
Following Will Smith's recently uploaded public apology video on July 29, the comedian and his representatives have not given any public response on the apology.
However, the "The Fresh Prince of Bel-air" star announced that after he had tried to reach out to Rock, the message that came back was that the latter was "not ready to talk" yet. However, some sources suggest that the comedian has no plans of getting closure with Smith as he has already "moved on" from the incident.
As of now, Chris Rock is set to star in the upcoming film "Amsterdam" alongside Margot Robbie, Christian Bale, and Taylor Swift. The film is directed by David O. Russell and will premiere on October 7, 2022.
