Chris Rock is finally opening up about the slap heard around the world at March’s broadcast of the Oscars, and he gets straight to the point.
“Anyone who says words hurt has never been punched in the face,” Rock said Sunday at one of his comedy shows this past weekend, US Weekly reports. “I’m not a victim. Yeah, that sh*t hurt, motherf***er. But I shook that sh*t off and went to work the next day. I don’t go to the hospital for a paper cut.”
The infamous incident occurred at this year’s Academy Awards when Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith being in G.I. Jane 2. The joke referenced Pinkett Smith’s alopecia and short hair. While she’s been lighthearted on occasion in the past about her condition, she was visibly upset at the joke, and Will Smith took to the stage to verbally confront and slap Rock.
While some thought the scene was a planned bit, many realized it wasn’t once the broadcast was muted as Smith began yelling at Rock after going back to his seat. Previously, Rock had declined to comment on the incident, saying he’d comment when he was getting paid to do so. Smith would go on to win an Oscar for his role in King Richard later the same evening and reference the incident during his acceptance speech.
Smith later apologized in a statement to Rock and the Academy, but that didn’t stop the Board of Governors for the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences from banning Smith from all Academy events for 10 years.
The slap has caused ripples in Hollywood for Smith, but according to his friend and Bad Boys co-star, it shouldn’t kill the development of Bad Boys 4, despite it getting postponed after the incident.
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Casey is a freelance writer for IGN. You can usually find him talking about JRPGs on Twitter at @caseydavidmt.