Chris Rock opens up about being slapped by Will Smith, says she ‘went to work the next day’ … after Smith publicly apologizes in video
By Sam Joseph Semon for Dailymail.com
Published: 23:06, 30 July 2022 | Updated: 00:52, July 31, 2022
Chris Rock made several jokes about his infamous interaction with Will Smith at the most recent Oscars ceremony during an appearance at the Fox Theater in Atlanta on Friday night.
The 57-year-old comedian spoke about how he tried to overcome the incident and compared the 53-year-old actor to currently jailed hip-hop mogul Suge Knight.
His appearance came just hours after the King Richard star apologized for his actions in a video shared on his Instagram account.
Speaking his mind: Chris Rock joked about his infamous interaction with Will Smith at the Oscars during a show at Atlanta’s Fox Theater on Friday night; see you in 2020
During his show, Rock said via CNN that “everyone is trying to be a victim of affection.” If everyone claims to be a victim, no one will listen to the real victims.”
The Grown Ups actor expressed at the time that going through the experience of “being spanked by Suge Smith” was something he had to work on quickly.
The performer noted that after being slapped, “I went to work the next day, I had kids.”
Rock also joked, “Anyone who says words hurt has never been punched in the face.”
Working on it: The Grown Ups actor expressed at the time that going through the experience of “being spanked by Suge Smith” was something he had to work on quickly, referencing Suge Knight; Smith is seen in his apology video
Smith previously shared his video apology on his Instagram account on Friday.
During the clip, he said he had been aware of his fans’ reactions to the incident at the Oscars.
“Over the past few months, I’ve been doing a lot of personal thinking and work … you asked a lot of fair questions that I wanted to take some time to answer,” he said.
The performer apologized to the comedian for his actions during the event.
Repentant: The performer apologized to the comedian for his actions during the event; Rock is seen with his girlfriend Lake Bell in July
‘Chris, I apologize. My behavior was unacceptable and I’m here whenever you’re ready to talk,” he said.
He noted that he was “foggy” when he attacked the comedian and that his memory of the event was “fuzzy”.
Smith then expressed that he was personally affected by the public’s reaction to his past actions.
‘Disappointing people is my central trauma. I hate it when I let people down, so it hurts,” he said.
Discouraged: Smith expressed that he was personally affected by the public’s reaction to his past actions.
The performer concluded by adding, “If you hang in there, I promise we can be friends again.”
Smith previously apologized to Rock in a message shared on his Instagram account last March.
During the statement, the actor expressed remorse for attacking the comedian.
‘I was offline and I made a mistake. I am ashamed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be,” he wrote.
Forgive: Smith previously apologized to Rock in a message shared on his Instagram account last March