Comedian Chris Rock brought the house down at his first comedy show since getting slapped by actor Will Smith during Sunday evening’s Academy Awards.
After opening with a loaded question — “How was your weekend?” — Rock told the crowd at his sold out show in Boston that he was “still processing” what had happened.
Chris Rock just addressed the Will Smith #Oscars slap for the first time during a sold-out stand-up show in Boston. https://t.co/Keka0MVhSd
Listen to the audio 👇 pic.twitter.com/TuqE8AHs6C
— Variety (@Variety) March 31, 2022
Rock walked out onto the stage in a white suit, and was greeted with a standing ovation. “Whoa, okay!” he said, and when the applause continued, he added, “Yo, let me do the show!”
“How was your weekend?” Rock tried again, promptings laughs and more applause from the crowd. “I don’t have a bunch of s*** about what happened, so if you came to hear that, I have a whole show I wrote before this weekend. I’m still kind of processing what happened. So, at some point I’ll talk about that s***. And it will be serious and funny.”
Someone in the audience began to chant, “F*** Will Smith,” but Rock simply carried on with the show. “I’m going to tell some jokes. It’s nice to just be out,” he said.
Rock is scheduled to hit the road for his “Ego Death World Tour” beginning in April — the first time he has toured in five years — but had several shows booked in Boston prior to the tour.
Outside of what he said onstage at the time — “Oh wow, wow. Will Smith just smacked the s*** outta me” — the comedian has been fairly tight-lipped about the incident. He declined to pursue charges against Smith, and according to Oscars co-host Wanda Sykes, Rock ran into her at an after party and offered her an apology for the way things went down.
“As soon as I walked up to him, the first thing he said was ‘I am so sorry,’” Sykes told Ellen DeGeneres during a Wednesday interview. “And I’m like, why are you apologizing? And he said, ‘It was supposed to be your night, you and Amy and Regina. You all were doing such a great job. I’m so sorry this is now going to be about this.’ Because that’s who Chris is.”
Rock’s longtime friend and fellow comedian Adam Sandler offered a show of support for his “buddy,” tweeting a photo of Rock’s upcoming tour promo with the comment, “Can’t wait for this. Love you buddy!”
Can’t wait for this. Love you buddy! pic.twitter.com/2b9iywyJg5
— Adam Sandler (@AdamSandler) March 29, 2022
Recent reports revealed that immediately after Smith slapped Rock, the Academy asked him to leave the event. Smith refused to do so, and a short time later, he was named best actor for his role in “King Richard.” The Academy has since revealed that Smith will face a formal review because of his actions.