Leslie Jones says Will Smith Oscars slap ‘really affected’ Chris Rock: It was ‘humiliating’
In a new interview with People, former “Saturday Night Live” star Leslie Jones said her friend Chris Rock was “really affected” by the infamous Will Smith Oscars slap at the 2022 Academy Awards.
“That shit was humiliating. It really affected him,” Jones, whose new memoir is called “Leslie F*cking Jones,” told the legacy magazine. “People need to understand his daughters, his parents, saw that. He had to go to counseling with his daughters.”
This event likely doesn’t need a recap, but just in case some readers might not remember what happened, Rock appeared at the 2022 Oscars to announce the winner of Best Documentary. In his remarks before handing out the award, the former Oscars host mocked Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head by suggesting she was ready to star in a sequel to “G.I. Jane.” (Pinkett Smith has alopecia.) In response, Will Smith shouted at Rock from the audience, urging the comic to “keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth.” Will Smith then walked up to the Oscars stage and slapped Rock across the face. He wasn’t removed from the Oscars ceremony after the attack, and then later won Best Actor for his performance in “King Richard.” Smith received a standing ovation after his victory and later celebrated at the Vanity Fair Oscars party. But in the aftermath of the shocking event, he stepped down from the academy and was later banned from attending the Oscars for the next 10 years. Smith also apologized for his actions.
Rock made some mention of the incident during stand-up comedy appearances that year, but saved his full remarks for his 2023 Emmy-nominated Netflix special “Selective Outrage.”
“You all know what happened to me, getting smacked by ‘Suge’ Smith. Everybody knows, everybody f–king knows,” Rock said, derisively comparing Smith to Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight. “Yes, it happened, like a year ago – f–king I got smacked at the f–king Oscars by this motherf–ker. People are like, ‘Did it hurt?’ It still hurts. I got ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ears.”
Later in the special, Rock said, “I’m not a victim, baby. You will never see me on Oprah [Winfrey] or Gayle [King], crying. You will never see it. Never gonna happen. ‘I couldn’t believe it, and I love “Men in Black.”’ No, it’s never gonna happen. No. F–k that sh–. I took that hit like [boxer Manny] Pacquiao, motherf–ker.”
As to whether getting smacked by Smith “hurt,” Rock said in no uncertain terms that it did. “First of all, I know you can’t tell on camera, but Will Smith is significantly bigger than me. We are not the same size. We are not,” Rock said. “Will Smith 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.”
Continuing with the bit, Rock joked, “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.’ Even in animation this motherf–ker is bigger, I’m a zebra, he’s a shark. What the f–k, man.”
Jones said the whole event made her feel “infuriated,” and she wondered why Will Smith didn’t just wait until after the Oscars ceremony to confront Rock about his joke.
“Chris Rock did a f—ing joke,” she said. “I know Will, too… I was like, you couldn’t handle that s–t afterwards. This is the Oscars. The whole world is watching.”
Jones also said she was disappointed Will Smith didn’t use his Oscar win to address his actions – a common complaint in the aftermath of the ceremony.
“He could have still fixed it,” Jones said. If she’d had her way the star would have said “‘I shouldn’t have did that. Bring Chris out. I can not accept the Oscar right now because that was f—ing wrong.'”
Jones’s book, with a forward written by Rock, is out this month.
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