A new report claims actor and comedian Chris Rock will not press charges against his fellow actor Will Smith after Smith slapped him at the Oscars.
Smith slapped Rock after Rock made a joke regarding Smith’s wife’s appearances, namely her shaved head.
Rock said, “Jada, I love you, G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it.” He then added, “That was a nice one.”
Smith then proceeds to walk up the stage and slap Rock on the face. In response, Rock says, “Oh wow. Wow. Will Smith just smacked the s*** out of me.”
After smacking Rock, Smith turned around and went back to his seat, where he then shouted at Rock, “Leave my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth!”
Rock responded, “Wow, dude. It was a G.I. Jane joke.” Smith then responded, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth.”
“I’m going to, okay?”, responds Rock. “That was the greatest night in the history of television,” he added before returning to the programming of the night.
VIA JAPANESE TELEVISION: The uncensored exchange between Will Smith and Chris Rock pic.twitter.com/j0Z184ZyXa
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) March 28, 2022
According to The Guardian’s senior reporter Lois Beckett, Chris Rock will not be pressing charges following the incident.
Beckett shared a statement from the Los Angeles Police Department to Twitter. It begins, “LAPD investigative entities are aware of an incident between two individuals during the Academy Awards program. The incident involved one individual slapping another. The individual involved has declined to file a police report.”
The statement concluded, “If the involved party desires a police report at a later date, LAPD will be available to complete an investigative report.”
Smith would later apologize for his actions after winning the Oscar for Best Actor for his role as Richard Williams in King Richard.
https://youtu.be/YVvgCMZSkyw
During his acceptance speech he stated, “Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family. In this time in my life, in this moment, I am overwhelmed by what God is calling on me to do and be in this world.”
“Making this film, I got to protect Aunjanue Ellis, who is one of the most — the strongest, most delicate people I’ve ever met,” he continued. “I got to protect Saniyya [Sidney] and Demi [Singleton], the two actresses that played Venus and Serena.”
“I’m being called on in my life to love people, and to protect people, and to be a river to my people,” Smith stated. “Now, I know to do what we do, you got to be able to take abuse. You got to be able to have people talk crazy about you. In this business, you got to be able to have people disrespecting you. And you got to smile and pretend like that’s okay.
“But Richard Williams, and what I loved — thank you, D. Denzel said to me a few minutes ago, ‘At your highest moment, be careful that’s when the devil comes for you,” Smith said.
Smith continued his speech, “It’s like I want to be a vessel for love. I want to say thank you to Venus and Serena. I just spit, I hope they didn’t see that on TV. I want to say thank you to Venus and Serena and the entire Williams for entrusting me with your story. That’s what I want to do. I want to be an ambassador of that kind of love, and care, and concern.”
Smith then apologized, “I want to apologize to the Academy. I want to apologize to all of my fellow nominees. This is a beautiful moment and I’m not — I’m not crying for winning an award. It’s not about winning an award for me. It’s about being able to shine light on all of the people: Tim, and Trevor, and Zack, and Saniyaa, and Demi, and Aunjanue, and the entire cast and crew of King Richard, Venus and Serena, and the entire Williams family.”
“Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father, just like they said. I look like the crazy father just like they said about Richard Williams. But will love will make you do crazy things,” he went on.
“To my mother, a lot of this moment is really complicated for me, but to my mother, she didn’t want to come out, she had her knitting friends, she has a knitting crew, she’s in Philly watching,” Smith said.
“Being able to love and care for my mother and my family, my wife — I’m taking up too much time — thank you for this honor. Thank you for this moment. And thank you on behalf of Richard and Oracene and the entire Williams family. Thank you. I hope the Academy invites me back. Thank you,” he concluded.
What do you make of the fact that Chris Rock will not be pressing charges? What do you make of Will Smith slapping Chris Rock?