Chris Rock says his Jada Pinkett Smith joke was 'nicest he's ever told' as he finally addresses Oscars slap
Topics: Celebrity, Film and TV, Chris Rock, Will Smith
Claire Reid
Featured Image Credit: Twitter/Kevin Hart/Alamy
Topics: Celebrity, Film and TV, Chris Rock, Will Smith
Chris Rock has said the joke he made about Jada Pinkett Smith - that led to the infamous Oscars slap from Will Smith - was the ‘nicest’ he’s ever made.
Rock unexpectedly became the talking point of the annual award’s ceremony after he made a joke about Pinkett Smith's shaved head, comparing her to GI Jane.
In response, Will Smith stormed on the stage and whacked Rock in the face, before screeching: “Keep my wife’s name out of your f**king mouth.”
You can relive it here, if you fancy:
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Rock, 57, has just kicked off a UK tour with fellow stand-up Dave Chapelle and during their opening night in Liverpool spoke out about the slap and accused Smith of ‘doing an impression of a perfect person’ for most of his career.
Appearing at the M&S Bank Arena, Chapelle asked if the slap hurt, to which Rock replied: “God damn right… the motherf***er hit me over a bulls**t joke, the nicest joke I ever told.”
According to reports, he’s then said to have continued: “A lot of people forget who Will Smith is. Then 10 minutes before he was about to get the biggest award… he acted like he was back in Philadelphia.
“Will did the impression of a perfect person for 30 years, and he ripped his mask off and showed us he was as ugly as the rest of us.
“Whatever the consequences are… I hope he doesn’t put his mask back on again, and lets his real face breathe. I see myself in both men.”
Smith, who went on to win an Oscar for his role in King Richard shortly after the slap, apologised back in July saying his behaviour was ‘unacceptable’.
In a clip uploaded to YouTube, he said: “I’ve reached out to Chris and the message that came back is that he’s not ready to talk and when he is, he’ll reach out,’ he said at the time.
“I will say to you Chris, I apologise to you, my behaviour was unacceptable, and I’m here whenever you’re ready to talk.
“I spent the last three months replaying and understanding the nuances and the complexities of what happened in that moment, and I’m not going to try to unpack all of that right now.
“But I can say to all of you – there is no part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave in that moment.
“There is no part of me that thinks that’s the optimal way to handle a feeling of disrespect or insults.”
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