Culture

Chris Rock jokes ‘I got my hearing back’ after Will Smith banned from Oscars for slap

10 Apr 2022

Chris Rock poses for a photograph.

Chris Rock reportedly addressed the incident with Will Smith at the 2022 Academy Awards during a stand-up set on Friday (8 April) night.

Earlier that day, the Academy announced it would be banning Smith from attending all Academy events for ten years.

During the televised ceremony, Smith slapped Rock on stage and swore at him after the comedian made a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

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“Jada, I love you. GI Jane 2, can’t wait to see you,” Rock had joked, in an apparent reference to Pinkett Smith’s shaved head. Pinkett Smith stated last year that she shaved her head after struggling with alopecia.

Smith, who won the Best Actor prize later in the ceremony, walked on stage and struck Rock, before shouting at him twice: “Keep my wife’s name out your f***ing mouth.”

California-based paper Desert Sun quotes the comedian as saying at the show in Fantasy Springs: “I’m OK, I have a whole show and I’m not talking about [the Will Smith incident] until I get paid.

“Life is good. I got my hearing back,” he then joked.

According to the outlet, attendees were forbidden from bringing mobile phones into the building during Rock’s set, and were given locking pouches for all mobile devices.

The actor had previously mentioned the shocking Oscars incident during a stand-up set last week, telling an audience that he was “still processing” what had happened.