HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 27: Will Smith appears to slap Chris Rock onstage during the 94th Annual Academy Awards at Dolby Theatre on March 27, 2022 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
Chris Rock is finally breaking his silence on the slap heard around the world when he was attacked on stage by Will Smith at the Oscars back in March, and is saying the actor showed his true colors that night and he “hopes he doesn’t put his mask back on again,” Rock said.
During a stop in Liverpool on his tour with Dave Chappelle, the first of many on a multi-date tour, told his fellow comedian that Smith “did an impression of a perfect man for 30 years” but is “just as ugly as the rest of us,” according to Page Six.
“Did that s**t hurt?” Chappelle asked him.
Rock, who has remained relatively quiet on the matter until now, replied “goddamn right, the mother***er hit me over a bulls*** joke, the nicest joke I ever told.”
“Goddamn right… the motherf***er hit me over a bulls**t joke, the nicest joke I ever told.”
The 57-year-old comedian went on to say that Smith “did the impression of a perfect person for 30 years,” and that “he ripped his mask off and showed us he was as ugly as the rest of us.”
He implored Smith to “not put his mask back on again” and “let his real face breathe.”
“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,” he said.
Smith famously stormed the stage at the Academy Awards where he slapped Rock after he made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada.
Rock said that she looked like “GI Jane” due to the fact that she shaves her head due to suffering from alopecia.
Smith got up from his seat and interrupted the program, slapping Rock in the face before coolly walking back to his seat.
He had briefly apologized at the time, but last month, he made an emotional Instagram post where he begged for Rock’s forgiveness.
Rock has not accepted the apology, the outlet reports.
Smith called his own behavior “unacceptable” and said that he reached out to Chris “and the message that came back is that he’s not ready to talk, when he is he will reach out.”
“I’ve reached out to Chris and the message that came back is that he’s not ready to talk when he is, he will reach out,” Smith said last month. “So I will say to you, Chris, I apologize to you. My behavior was unacceptable and I’m here whenever you’re ready to talk.”
Smith went on to win Best Actor that night for his role in King Richard, and did not directly address the awkward situation when he accepted the award later that same evening.
He insisted that his wife Jada had nothing to do with the slap, saying he “made a choice of my own from my own experiences from my history with Chris.”
“Jada had nothing to do with it,” Smith said. “I’m sorry, babe.”
Smith went on to say that “disappointing people” is his “central trauma.”
“I can still see Questlove’s eyes. You know it happened on Questlove’s award. You know, it’s like. I’m sorry really isn’t sufficient.”
Rock has since gone on to announce that he will not host the Oscars again next year.
He also took aim at Meghan Markle, who’s new podcast has been the subject of widespread ire amid her constant complaints about the royal family and her life.
“I just don’t get it,” he said of the Duchess, who he said has an obsession with being a victim.
