Comedian Chris Rock is tired of talking about Will Smith’s infamous Oscar’s slap, but he wants to make one thing clear: It hurt.
Rock, 58, spoke at length about the 2022 Academy Awards incident during a live Netflix comedy special.
“You know what people say, they say, ‘words hurt,'” Rock said. “Anybody that say words hurt has never been punched in the face.”
Will Smith has since said “bottled” rage led to his actions.
The confrontation became a cultural lightening rod for conversations around America’s appetite for casual violence, as Mr. Smith was allowed to remain at the ceremony and later accepted his first-ever Oscar for Best Actor.
Rock was praised for maintaining his composure following the incident.
In the streaming service’s first live comedy show, Chris Rock: Selective Outrage, the performer tackled a wide range of issues, including woke culture, Meghan Markle and politics.
“I’m going to try to do the show without offending anyone,” Rock said, in a nod to the Smith altercation. “Because you never know who might get triggered.”
Later he added, America “is so screwed up right now if the Russians came here right now, half the country would go ‘let’s hear them out’.”
But he saved the best for last and used the final moments of the show to address the incident with Will Smith.
