Arriving relatively early into the coverage surrounding Will Smith’s televised slapping of comedian Chris Rock was a reported claim from 2022 Oscars presenter Diddy that the two had quickly resolved any issues. According to a new report, however, that’s (allegedly) not the case.
TMZ, citing a “source with direct knowledge” of the incident, reported Monday that the two have not spoken since Sunday’s ceremony. Per the report, Rock was “shaken and bewildered” by Smith’s slap, though he never had any intention of staying at the awards show beyond his presentation segment. The report also said that Rock was unaware of Jada Pinkett Smith’s publicly discussed struggles with alopecia.
Meanwhile, a frequently mentioned aspect of the moment is speculation on whether Chris Rock was the comedic voice behind the joke that preceded Smith’s slap. As previously reported, Rock said the following before being met with an eye-roll from Jada:
“Jada, I love ya. G.I. Jane 2. Can’t wait to see it.”
After initially highlighting that the awards show (as would be expected) included contributions from a number of writers, Timothy Burke said that Rock “did not write the joke.”
When accepting the night’s Best Actor award, Smith—who won for his portrayal of Venus and Serena Williams’ father in King Richard—apologized to the Academy but did not specifically mention the prior incident with Rock. “I want to apologize to the Academy. I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees,” Smith said.
