Opening up about his reaction to the 2022 Oscars ‘slapgate’ incident for the first time publicly, comedian Chris Rock went all out in revealing it all. He now claims that Will Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith had started a rift between him and Will long before the 2022 Oscars came around.
In his Netflix special ‘Chris Rock: Selective Outrage’ performed at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore on Saturday, March 4, the ‘Death at a Funeral’ star claimed that back in 2016, Jada attempted to force him to pull out from hosting the Oscars because her husband didn’t get a Best Actor nomination.
Will was slated to be nominated that year for his performance in the movie Concussion but in the end, did not make the cut. “Years ago, his wife said I should quit the Oscars,” Rock said, adding, “I shouldn’t host ’cause her man didn’t get nominated for Concussion. And then he gives me a f*****g concussion.”
Ignoring Jada’s request, Rock said that he decided to host the 2022 Oscars, where he mocked Jada’s shaved head, which caused Will to slap him in front of the entire audience who attended the event.
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During the special, Rock blamed Jada for the scandal of a century that unfolded on the 2022 Oscars stage. “That’s how it is – she starts it, I finish it, OK? That’s what the f*** happened. Nobody’s picking on her. She started this s***,” he said. He also added that he was “not a victim.”
“I got smacked at the f***ing Oscars by this m**********r,” he said. “People are like, ‘Did it hurt?’ It still hurts. I got ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ears.”
