In a new live Netflix special this weekend, Rock will reportedly speak out about the night Smith stormed the Oscar stage.
Chris Rock has hit back at Will Smith with a particularly cutting remark following the infamous Oscars slap – saying that the only reason he watched the actor’s movie Emancipation was to watch him get whipped.
The comedian has been testing out material for his his upcoming live Netflix special which will take place at 3am on Sunday Irish time and will include jokes about the slap a year after it made headlines around the world.
Smith slapped Rock at the Academy Awards after the comic made a G.I. Jane joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, who has alopecia.
Later in the night, Smith went on to win the Best Actor award for his portrayal of Venus and Serena Williams’ father, Richard, in the tennis biopic King Richard.
Rock is said to address the incident in his stand-up special Selective Outrage and, according to the New York Post, in one of his preparation performances, he told crowds at a packed out theatre that he “rooted for Will Smith” his whole life.
Set up complete, the comedian added that he hate-watched Smith’s latest movie Emancipation where the latter plays a tortured, escaped slave.
“The other day, I watched Emancipation just so I could watch him getting whipped,” Rock joked.
In the special, Rock will also reportedly speak out about the night Smith stormed the stage, with a source telling Page Six that “the comedian is waiting to spill his humourous take on it”.
Before the special, he is said to have been trialing jokes about Smith during his Ego Death tour.
This week's Must-Watch at home is Netflix's first EVER completely live viewing event… so it could be VERY interesting to see what might happen… pic.twitter.com/6XBGwMk3Dt
— JOE.ie (@JOEdotie) March 2, 2023
“Will Smith practices selective outrage. People who are in the know, know that s*** had nothing to do with me,” Rock told a crowd on 17 February at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre, the Baltimore Sun reported.
Rock is also reported to have said: “He is significantly bigger than me. You will never see me on camera with my shirt off. Will played Muhammad Ali. I played Pookie [in New Jack City].”
Meanwhile, a Deadline report states that Rock previously joked about Smith at London’s O2 Arena with Dave Chappelle: “He played Ali. I can’t even play Floyd Mayweather.”
Vanity Fair has compiled an extensive list of everything Rock has said since the slap and it is a lot.
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