WASHINGTON: Comedian Chris Rock has finally broken his silence on Will Smith slapping him at the 94th Academy Awards ceremony.
During a stand-up show in Boston on Wednesday, Rock walked out to two boisterous standing ovations that lasted roughly two minutes, The Hollywood Reporter said. Rock, 57, opened his comedy with, “How was your weekend?” which was greeted with laughter, the outlet informed.
The comedian then went on to speak briefly about “what happened” without directly mentioning the Oscars ceremony, or Will Smith.
“I don’t have a bunch of shit about what happened, so if you came to hear that, I have a whole show I wrote before this weekend, and I’m still kind of processing what happened. So at some point I’ll talk about that shit. And it’ll be serious, and it’ll be funny,” Rock said.
He continued, “I’m going to tell some jokes. It’s nice to just be out.”
Rock later told the audience, “Except for some other pretty weird things, life is pretty good right now.”
The comedian received big cheers at the show which ran about an hour, as per The Hollywood.
For the unversed, this show marked Rock’s Ego Death World Tour, which runs through the fall.
This appearance came after Smith took to his Instagram on Monday to apologise for slapping the comedian onstage during the live Academy Awards show.
“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,” Smith wrote on Instagram.
“Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behaviour 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,” Smith said in his apology.