Aurora Starchild
Chris Rock claims we’ll never see him on Oprah but he’s certainly milking the Oscar Slap incident. While speaking at the Kennedy Center during the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor ceremony, he brought up Will Smith’s slap yet again. “Paul Pelosi (is) the only guy who knows how I felt,” Rock joked (via USA Today).
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Chris Rock Was Speaking at the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor Ceremony
This year’s Mark Twain Prize goes out to Adam Sandler, who’s been doing stand-up comedy since 1989. The prolific actor and comedian was honored and praised by many comedians and film industry workers on Sunday. Chris Rock got up on stage and told the audience that he was going to share jokes that didn’t make it into the final edit of his recent Netflix comedy special Selective Outrage.
The 70-minute stand-up special almost seems like a chance for Chris Rock to get the final say — on repeat, of course, as it’s been immortalized via a Netflix streamer. The coup de grâce comes in its final 10 minutes, starting with a segue about Beyoncé. Chris Rock claims she’s so fine she could work at a Burger King and still land billionaire Jay-Z as her husband. But Jay-Z, not so much.
“By the way, that is not a Jay-Z diss. I do not need another rapper mad at me, okay?” says Rock. Onward he continues about the Will Smith Oscar Slap.
“Y’all know what happened to me. Getting slapped by Shook Smith. Everybody knows. Everybody fu**in’ knows. Yes, it happened. I got smacked like a year ago!” he says, waving his arms by his side and looking up at the ceiling.
Chris Rock Says He’s “Not a Victim” Then Compares Oscar Slap to Near-Deadly Paul Pelosi Attack
“It still hurts. I got Summertime ringing in my ears,” Rock continued. “But I’m not a victim baby. You will never see me on Oprah or Gayle, crying. You will never see it. Never gonna happen.” He continued to bring up Jada Pinkett Smith once again, referring to an “entanglement” (i.e., pseudo affair while she and Will were taking a break). Jada and Will Smith spoke about it on her Red Table Talk show in 2020. He also accuses Will Smith of being guilty of selective outrage. Rock certainly appears to still be harboring a lot of outrage himself.
Back to the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor skit. Chris Rock compares himself to Paul Pelosi, simultaneously bringing up a horrific near-death experience of a politician’s husband and the taboo Oscar Slap that got Will Smith banned from the Academy Awards for a decade.
“Just me and you, Paul,” says Rock.
Was this going too far?
Paul Pelosi’s Attacker Fractured His Skull, Tried to Kill Him
On October 28, 2022, an intruder broke named David DePape and entered into the Pelosi’s San Francisco residence, demanding to see former House speaker Nancy Pelosi. “Where is Nancy? Where are you, Nancy?!” he was heard saying as he smashed the door in with a hammer.
Paul Pelosi hid in the bathroom and called 9-1-1, leaving his phone on so the operator could hear. When DePape found him, he proceeded to attack him with the hammer. Graphic officer body camera footage later showed DePape take one final crazed swing at Pelosi even after they arrived.
Pelosi was left in critical condition with a fractured skull and injuries to both hands and his right arm. He was rushed to the hospital and underwent surgery, unable to be discharged for almost a week.
David DePape has since been indicted on numerous accounts, both by the feds and San Francisco DA. His indictments include assault on a family member of a federal official and attempted kidnapping of a federal official; and attempted murder, inflicting unjustifiable physical pain, false imprisonment, and burglary. It’s certainly no joking matter.
Will Smith’s Oscar Slap Is No Paul Pelosi Hammer Attack
Chris Rock seems to think that this can all be laughed off. Seizing the opportunity to make a couple more jabs at Will Smith at Adam Sandler’s award ceremony, he just had to make a sick comparison between the Oscar Slap and Paul Pelosi.
Meanwhile, Will Smith thinks Chris Rock has gone too far. This is referring to the Selective Outrage Netflix special, and not about the Mark Twain Award, when Rock added a couple more jokes on the matter. A source close to Will Smith told Entertainment Tonight that Smith thinks Chris Rock’s special is “distasteful.”
“Will is embarrassed and hurt by what Chris said about him and his family in his Netflix special. He didn’t watch it, but he had people tell him what Chris said,” said the source. “It’s everywhere when you look online and on social media, so Will and Jada have seen comments about it.”
“Will is also upset that Netflix was a part of this and thinks Chris insulting Jada again is below the belt,” the source added. “He is upset that Netflix gave Chris this platform to share these messages and thinks it’s distasteful.”
Chris Rock Doesn’t Seem to Want to Let the Oscar Slap Go
For his part, Will Smith has apologized profusely, to Chris Rock, to the public, and to the Academy. He’s been banned from the Academy for 10 years and almost lost his career to the incident. This was all because Chris Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s alopecia, a rare condition that causes baldness.
On the other hand, Chris Rock has continued to not just bring up the Oscar Slap, but to make jabs at Jada Pinkett Smith. But earlier this month, a source told Entertainment Tonight that Rock had already had his say and was “ready to move on.”
Except for one more joke, right? It’s not clear if Chris Rock sees value in comparing Will Smith’s Oscar Slap to an attempted murder or is trying to downgrade his own injuries by bringing up Paul Pelosi. Either way, maybe this time he can really let it go.
Silke Jasso and Troy Smith contributed to this article.
