At the 2022 Oscar Awards, Smith infiltrated the stage. He slapped Rock after he made a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. It ended up being one of the most viral moments in social media history.
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Chris Rock Opens Up About Will Smith Slapping Him
Now Chris Rock is breaking his silence about the viral incident. An incident that he says he wishes never occurred.
The Everybody Hates Chris creator recently sat down with Variety to discuss his upcoming film, Misty Green. The story focuses on a talented actress and singer whose career has hit a wall after her initial Hollywood breakthrough.
During the interview, Selome Hailu of Variety mentioned that one of the reasons that Green's career stalls in the movie is an incident where she slaps a colleague, and Rock's character has to decide whether or not to forgive her. Rock insists that it is purely a coincidence and the film is just a scenario where they imitate life. He also says that he wishes that the altercation never happened.
"Hey, man. You know, to answer your question a little bit, I wish nothing had happened," Rock said when speaking with the outlet. "And also, I don't want to say anything that takes any attention away from Rosalind [Eleazar] and how good she is in this movie. It's a crazy world. We walk by homeless people. There's all sorts of s**t going on right now. Me having a bad day is not the biggest — it's not that important."
Rock Says He Likely Won't Return to The Oscars Again
In the aftermath, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences banned Will Smith from attending the Oscars. And all other Academy events, in-person or virtually, for 10 years, effective April 8, 2022.
However, even with Smith being banned from the Oscars, Rock says that it is unlikely he will return to the event unless he is nominated.
"I'm not going to say never, but my time might have passed, honestly," he added. "I'm not getting nominated. The only way I'll go back is if I'm nominated, and I'm not getting nominated. And that's OK. We'll deal with that if it happens. Like, let's manage expectations."
