Following the drama that went down at the Academy Awards, Chris Rock has been on his comedy tour, with many people hoping to hear a bunch of jokes about the infamous Will Smith slap.
However, Rock has been tight-lipped about the incident, mentioning it only briefly at a few shows, mainly to let people know he doesn’t have much to say about it.
At a recent show, he mentioned it again, this time telling the crowd a few more things about what happened, including the fact he won’t be talking until he gets some money for it.
Chris Rock speaks on Will Smith Oscars incident
This past Friday, Chris Rock performed his latest show at Fantasy Springs in Arizona, delivering jokes about politicians, the Kardashians, and Meghan Markle. He also told his audience he wouldn’t be speaking or joking about the Oscars drama during his time on stage.
“I’m OK, I have a whole show, and I’m not talking about that until I get paid. Life is good. I got my hearing back,” Rock told the crowd, per the Desert Sun.
That was Rock’s only reference to the slap he took from Smith onstage at his latest show, where he received a standing ovation from the crowd. The event prohibited cell phones from the building, with locking pouches given to attendees for their mobile devices.
Rock performed two shows in Massachusetts, including The Wilbur, on March 30, where he also received a standing ovation. He didn’t say much about the incident then, telling the crowd he would talk about it at “some point” but was “still kind of processing what happened.”
During Rock’s shows in Boston, he received good crowd support, but there were also a few incidents. According to the New York Post, fans got removed from both shows due to behavior.
Rock also shut down someone who yelled “F**k Will Smith!” at one of his shows, telling them, “No, no, no.”
His shows arrived days after being an onstage presenter for the Academy Awards, where he delivered a G.I. Jane joke referencing Will Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, and her bald look.
While Smith initially laughed at Rock’s remark, Jada wasn’t amused. Soon after, Smith left his spot in the audience, walked up to the stage, and smacked Rock before returning to his seat. He then yelled at Rock, “Keep my wife’s name out your f**king mouth,” several times.
Smith remained at the ceremony and later was presented with the Best Actor award for his work in King Richard. He gave a teary-eyed speech about being a protector of his family and offered apologies to the Academy and others there, but not Rock at that time.
Smith banned from Academy events for ten years
A day after the Oscars, Will Smith offered an apology to Chris Rock and others on his Instagram account. He also resigned from the Academy, saying he was “heartbroken” having to do so, and soon after, they accepted his resignation.
The Academy revealed they would also decide what would happen to Smith following him slapping Rock onstage. Most people speculated he’d get suspended from the Academy but wouldn’t lose his Oscar.
This past Friday, the Academy’s Board of Governors announced Smith’s punishment for the Oscars incident, saying he can’t attend any of their events for ten years.
In addition to that, it was revealed that Netflix quietly backed away from a project which would star Will Smith called Fast and Loose. The movie focused on a crime boss who suffered memory loss after an attack. The film’s initial director, David Leitch, withdrew from the project the week before the Oscars ceremony.
While Smith is losing ground in the entertainment world, Rock seems to be surging in popularity. Ahead of his comments about getting “paid” to talk about the Oscars incident, reports indicated that his Ego Death World Tour ticket prices had surged by 641 percent at a secondary ticket seller.
Rock heads to Hollywood, Florida’s Seminole Hard Rock Casino, for two shows in the coming week, followed by Durham, North Carolina. This summer, he’ll team up with fellow comedy superstar Kevin Hart for a batch of Only Headliners shows.
I thought Fantasy Springs was in Indio CA?!