Chris Rock received several standing ovations before he cracked a joke at his first comedy show since Will Smith slapped him in the face onstage at the Oscars for cracking a joke at his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s expense, who is suffering from a disease called alopecia.
Rock briefly addressed the slap amidst the sold-out crowd in Boston, saying he was “still kind of processing what happened.”
Rock said midway through his first of two sets, “Other than the weird thing, life is pretty good.”
The evening performance came just three days later Will Smith struck the comedian Rock for making fun of his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith during the Academy Award.
Rock didn’t mention Smith or Pinkett Smith personally by their name at his show in Boston. Having worn all white, he looked almost humiliated by the multiple ovations he received. As the cheering carried on for minutes and fans yelled “I love you, Chris!”
A guest seated near the stage told The Associated Press that having heard this, the comedian seemed a little sentimental.
“How was your weekend?” Rock joked before getting into his set
Ticket prices shot up after Smith took to the awards stage and slapped Rock on the Oscars stage, but the comedian made clear that he wasn’t going to address that on Wednesday.
Rock said: “If you came to hear that, I’m not … I made like this whole show, I wrote before this weekend.”
He spent much of the night talking about celebrities and politicians. The Duchess of Sussex, the Kardashians, the current president of America Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton and former President Donald Trump of America were among them.
During the show, one person cried out that Rock should have sued Smith.
What exactly went down at the Oscars?
Rock mocked Jada Pinkett Smith’s buzzed hairdo at the Oscars and said that: “Jada, I love you. ‘G.I. Jane 2,’ can’t wait to see it.” Rock compared Pinkett Smith to Demi Moore’s “G.I. Jane” character, who had a buzz cut in the 1997 film which made Will angry at him.
As a result, Smith promptly stood up from his seat at the front of the venue and went over the stage, slapping Rock across the face before sitting back down and shouting at Rock to keep his wife’s name out of his mouth.
Also read| All incidents of Chris Rock making fun of Jada Pinkett Smith
Pickett Smith has spoken openly with the public about her disease alopecia which causes baldness.
Will’s apology to Rock
Will has apologized for slapping Chris at Sunday night’s Oscars ceremony, said his behaviour was ‘unacceptable and inexcusable’ and left him ’embarrassed’.
He put down in an Instagram post that he was ’embarrassed’ by his actions, which also shocked the ceremony attendees, producers and viewers present over there.
He also added that “Violence in all of its forms was poisonous and destructive.”
His behaviour at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at his expense were a part of the job, but a joke about his wife Jada’s medical condition was too much for him to bear and he reacted emotionally.
He apologized by saying, ‘I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and he was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions are not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.’
Smith also apologized to the organisers and the producers of the show.
Also read| Will Smith apologizes to Chris Rock for slapping him at the Oscars
Chris has neither responded to Will’s apology nor commented on the Sunday night incident.
Fan’s Responses
A fan of Chris Rock showed off a t-shirt featuring the “G.I. Jane” logo and Pinkett Smith’s face. On the contrary, another fan had a shirt made that showed Smith’s face and illustrated a harsh joke about the couple’s courtship.
George Guay, a 24-year-old fan from Boston who grew up on “Everybody Hates Chris,” said he bought a ticket after Smith slapped Rock.
Also read| Tiffany Hadish defends Will Smith for slapping Chris Rock
Kathryn West-Hines, a 50-year-old Pilates instructor from Malden, Massachusetts, said her respect for Rock increased more “I thought it was amazing, classy,” she said, adding that Chris won’t let his shine away after “what happened Sunday”.
George Guay, a 24-year-old fan from Boston who grew up on “Everybody Hates Chris,” said he bought a ticket after Smith slapped Rock and further said that he’s the most popular celebrity so he wanted to be here, Guay said before the show, adding that he hoped Rock would open with a response to the situation. He just wanted a good show.
Some fans were a little disappointed with him for not addressing the incident directly but said that they could see Chris wasn’t sure how to do it which was visible from his body language.
Dave Henriquez, a 48-year-old musician from Newton, Massachusetts said that as he could see him, his mood was a little disturbed and he could see that was weighing on him.
Erin Ryan, a 33-year-old teacher also from Newton who was with Henriquez, said she felt Rock wanted to perform his act and didn’t want to give rise to the standup about the one incident.
Also read| Katherine Ryan slams Smith for slapping Chris Rock
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences criticized Smith for hitting Rock. Its board of governors met Wednesday to commence penal proceedings against Smith for violations of the group’s standards of conduct. The academy told that it had asked Smith to leave the ceremony after smashing Rock, but he refused to do so.
Wanda Sykes, who co-hosted the Oscars with Amy Schumer and Regina Hall said in an interview with Ellen DeGeneres that has been. planned to air on April 7, said she felt physically ill after Smith slapped Rock and letting Will stay to receive the award should not have happened.
Let’s take a look at everything else that happened at the Oscars
The drama took precedence over some historical wins at the Oscars. The deaf family drama “CODA” became the first film with a largely deaf cast to win the best picture.
A streaming service, Apple TV+, took Hollywood’s top honour for the first time gesturing a small shift in Hollywood and movie-going.
All that made history like Ariana DeBose of “West Side Story,” Troy Kotsur of “CODA” and Jane Campion, director of “The Power of the Dog,” were overshadowed after the incident happened at the award event.
