Update as of March 30
Up until today, Chris Rock has been the only one who hasn’t spoken about what happened at the Oscars. Tonight as he opened his comedy show in Boston, he did break his silence on the incident.
“I don’t have a bunch of s— about what happened. I had like a whole show I wrote before this weekend. I’m still kinda processing what happened. So at some point, I’ll talk about that s–.”
- Will issued an apology to Rock via Instagram for his actions last night:
“Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behavior at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally. I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.”
Original story
As great of a comedian that Chris Rock is, tonight he took it a step too far. He joked about Jada Pinkett-Smith’s hair — she announced years ago she has alopecia, therefore, keeps her hair buzzed short or at times even bald. Her husband Will Smith wasn’t a fan of his joke. In fact, Smith took measures into his own hands by going on stage and slapping Rock.
After the slap he let Rock know NOT to mention Jada’s name again.
After winning Best Actor for his role in King Richard, Smith did apologize to Rock for his earlier action.
Alopecia is an autoimmune disorder that attacks hair follicles thus resulting in bald spots and hair loss. While comedians just flow with their punchlines, some can go too far and tonight was one of the out-of-the-box nights for Rock.
During his acceptance speech, Smith did apologize for his earlier actions — but not specifically to Rock.
“I want to apologize to the Academy, I want to apologize to my fellow nominees. This is a beautiful moment and I’m not crying for winning an award. It’s not about winning an award for me. It’s about being able to shine a light on all of the people … Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father just like they said … just like they said about Richard Williams. Love will make you do crazy things.”
