Chris Rock Talks Will Smith Slap in Live Netflix Special: ‘I’m Not a Victim, Baby’

Close to a year after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the 94th Academy Awards, Rock held forth about that on-stage altercation in Chris Rock: Selective Outrage, his live Netflix comedy special.

“Y’all know what happened to me, getting smacked by Suge Smith,” Rock said near the end of his hour-long set, which Netflix streamed on Saturday, March 4. “Everybody knows! Everybody f—king knows! Yes, it happened. I got smacked. Like, a year ago … I got smacked at the f—king Oscars by this motherf—ker, and people are like, ‘Did it hurt?’ It still hurts! I got ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ear!”

He went on: “But I’m not a victim, baby. You will never see me on Oprah or Gayle [King], crying. You will never see it. Never going to happen. … I took that hit like [Manny] Pacquiao, motherf—ker! I took it like motherf—king Pacquiao, OK?”

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Rock also noted that Smith is “significantly bigger” than him. “We are not the same size, OK? We are not. This guy does movies with his shirt off. You’ve never seen me do a movie with my shirt off. If I’m in a movie getting open-heart surgery, I got on a sweater. Will Smith played Muhammad Ali in a movie. You think I auditioned for that part? He played Muhammad Ali — I played Pookie in New Jack City. … I played a piece of corn in Pootie Tang! S—t, even in animation, this motherf—ker is bigger. I’m a zebra, he’s a shark. What the f—k, man?”

Observing how Smith “practices selective outrage,” Rock recalled the romantic “entanglement” that Jada Pinkett Smith, Will’s wife, talked about on her talk show Red Table Talk. “Everybody knows what the f—k happened. Everybody that really knows, knows that I have nothing to do with that s—t. I didn’t have any ‘entanglements,’” Rock said. “His wife was f—king her son’s friend, OK? Now, I normally would not talk about this s—t, but for some reason, these n—s put that s—t on the internet. I have no idea why two talented people would do something that lowdown. What the f—k? And we’ve all been cheated on. Everybody in here has been cheated on. None of us have ever been interviewed by the person that cheated on us on television.”

Chris Rock finally addressing Will Smith and the Oscars slap during his Netflix special, says he’s not a victim and took the hit like Pacquiao #ChrisRock pic.twitter.com/S0QY5T7zPZ

— Eric Diep (@E_Diep) March 5, 2023

He went on: “She hurt him way more than he hurt me. … Everybody in the world called him a bitch. I tried to call the motherf—ker, I tried to call that man and give him my condolences, he didn’t pick up for me. … Everybody called him a bitch, and who does he hit? Me … That is some bitch-ass s—t.”

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And Rock discussed the 2016 Oscars, which he hosted and the Smiths boycotted amid the #OscarSoWhite controversy over the all-white slate of acting nominees that year. “Years ago, his wife said I should quit the Oscars. I shouldn’t host. Because her man didn’t get nominated for [Concussion], the biggest piece of s—t ever,” Rock said. “She f—king said, ‘He should quit because Will didn’t get nominated for Concussion.’ What the f—k? What the f—k! So, then I do some jokes about her. Who gives a f—k? She starts it, I finish it, OK? That’s what the f—k happened. Nobody’s picking on this bitch. She started this s—t. Nobody was picking on her. … And then this n—a gives me a f—king concussion, OK?”

The comedian also said he “rooted for Will Smith” his whole life. “And now I watch Emancipation just to see him get whooped,” he added.

And at the end of his set, the Fargo alum addressed a frequently-asked question about the slap: “A lot of people go, ‘Chris, how come you didn’t do nothing back? How come you didn’t do nothing back that night?’ Because I got parents, that’s why. Because I was raised, OK?” he said. “I got parents. And you know what my parents taught me? Don’t fight in front of white people!”