Chris Rock has stated that he won’t be talking about the Will Smith Oscars slap until he is paid to do so. The notorious moment occurred during Chris Rock’s presentation of the award for Best Documentary Feature at the 94th Academy Awards. When bantering with the audience, Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head, which she had done as a result of her diagnosis with alopecia. Will Smith’s reaction was to come on stage while Rock was presenting and slap him across the face, which immediately became the most talked-about moment of the program, with people hotly debating how the Academy should have handled Smith’s slap.
The fallout from this live incident has been continuing for the two weeks since the Oscar telecast aired. Many celebrities came out with their own statements about the incident, including Will Smith, who issued a public apology the following day, and Jada Pinkett Smith, who shared a comment about it being a “season of healing” on Instagram. Will also announced his resignation from the Academy on April 1, 5 days after the Oscars ceremony. This meant that he no longer had the power to vote in Oscars categories, though it did not disqualify him from future nominations or wins. Two days ago, The Academy issued a much harsher response, banning Will Smith from The Oscars for 10 years.
Per Deadline, Chris Rock, who has previously only briefly spoken about the incident, spoke more clearly about when he intends to broach the topic. At the beginning of his show at California’s Fantasy Springs Resort-Casino on Friday night, Rock brought up the topic just to put it aside so people wouldn’t be thinking about it during the entire set. In his brief statement, he said that “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.“
There will almost certainly be no shortage of people willing to pay Rock to discuss the situation. Considering that the slap has been such a hot-button pop culture issue that discourse continued even after the Grammys aired the following Sunday night, it’s only a matter of time before a major interviewer sits down with Rock. Ultimately, it seems like this statement was a tacit admission that the comedian is ready to talk about it on his own terms after having processed what happened.
If Chris Rock does deliver a big-ticket interview about the slap, it will likely be on a show like 60 Minutes or a sit-down with Oprah. Oprah recently snagged a big get when she interviewed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at their California residence, so her team will likely be preparing an offer for Rock sooner than later. Whenever he decides to tell his side of the story, the media attention will certainly be riveting.
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