Chris Rock wants fans to know he’s “not a victim” with regards to The Slap, at least according to an “eyewitness”-citing new report.
On Monday, the celeb gossip-focused Us Weekly reported that Rock addressed being slapped by Will Smith at this year’s Oscars ceremony during a recent stand-up set in Holmdel, New Jersey.
“I’m not a victim, motherfucker,” Rock is reported to have told the crowd. “Yeah, that shit hurt, motherfucker. … But I shook that shit off and went to work the next day.” Rock reportedly then went on to joke that he doesn’t go to the hospital “for a papercut.”
Elsewhere in the same set, Rock is said to have jokingly called the King Richard Oscar winner “Suge Smith.”
Of note here is that Rock’s current Ego Death World Tour is designed as a “phone-free experience,” meaning attendees are required to put their phones and related smart devices into Yondr pouches upon arrival, thus leading to the sort of “eyewitness”-citing reports seen here. Although these particular comments stem from a co-headlining mini-tour with Kevin Hart, the same policy was in place. Rock’s tour, meanwhile, is set to hit resume in Orlando for a two-date run starting Wednesday.
The global coverage surrounding the slap in question at one point felt as though it might never subside, although such talk did finally reach a calmer frequency. Smith apologized to Rock in a statement shared to Instagram, although the actor was later (and to immediate criticism) hit with a 10-year ban from future Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences events.
At the same Board of Governors meeting, per a letter shared at the time by president David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson, the Academy also accepted Smith’s resignation.
