Posted in: ABC, Awards Shows, streaming, TV | Tagged: ABC, academy awards, chris rock, oscars, will smith

Chris Rock "Processing", Addressing Will Smith Slap "At Some Point"

By now, pretty much the entire world has chimed in on "The Great Oscars Slap of 2022," where Best Actor nominee Will Smith (King Richard) slapped presenter Chris Rock during the live ABC Academy Awards broadcast over Rock's joke directed at his wife Jada Pinkett Smith ("Jada, I love you, 'G.I. Jane 2,' can't wait to see it"). But the only ones we're interested in hearing from at this point are the three primary players. Smith took to social media on Monday to post an apology to both Rock and The Academy while also offering a defense for his actions. Following that, Pinkett Smith took to Instagram with her first public words. "This is a season for healing and I'm here for it" was displayed on the image posted to social media. Now on Wednesday night, we finally got to hear from Rock on the matter- at least a word or two on the matter.

While the actor/comedian still hasn't formally & publically addressed the controversy, he did allude to it during his two "Ego Death World Tour" shows on Wednesday night at Boston's The Wilbur theater. During the first show, Rock was reportedly greeted with a three-minute standing ovation before joking, "How was your weekend?" From there, Rock noted that he is "still kinda processing what happened" but that "at some point" he will talk about "that sh*t" and that "it will be serious, and it will be funny." During the second show, Rock did clarify whether or not he had spoken to Smith or Pinkett Smith after the assault, saying, "I haven't talked to anyone despite what you may have heard." Here's a look at Pinkett Smith's Instagram post from earlier this week:

And here's a look back at Smith's post, followed by a full transcript of the post's caption/text:

Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behavior at last night's Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada's medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally.

I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.

I would also like to apologize to the Academy, the producers of the show, all the attendees and everyone watching around the world. I would like to apologize to the Williams Family and my King Richard Family. I deeply regret that my behavior has stained what has been an otherwise gorgeous journey for all of us.

I am a work in progress.

Sincerely,

Will

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