The 2022 Oscars went down in history.
Will Smith walked across the stage and slapped Chris Rock.
Chris’s brother, Tony Rock, speaks out on what he thinks caused Will to get out of character. As reported on Hip Hop DX, Tony appeared on the Top Billin’ with Bill Bellamy podcast and thinks Will doesn’t want the public to view him as “soft.” In addition, Tony blames Will’s wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith’s past relationship with the late Tupac Shakur.
Tony said, “I think that [Oscar Slap] was the accumulation of him being slapped on other levels. He said it himself, he always hated the ‘soft moniker.’ He’s soft, Jada won’t let 2Pac die, it’s always something about 2Pac and his daughter [Willow Smith] brought up 2Pac.” Tony continued,
“And I’m not bringing up family stuff that people don’t know… this is stuff that everybody knows.” He added, “[Jada] commonly talks about Tupac, her [past] relationship with 2Pac. As a married man to this woman, you’re like, ‘Damn is what I’m doing not enough?’”
Tony went on to say Will acted out in that moment at the award’s show because of Jada’s response to Chris’s G.I Jane joke, which she clearly didn’t find funny. Tony told the host, “[Will] wasn’t embarrassed, everybody saw the footage, he laughed first. So that’s not embarrassment, he was laughing. In the time they cut to my brother and cut back, he [Will] was already up walking [to the stage]. So maybe it was the Jada look.”
Earlier this year at the Oscars, Will slapped Chris after Chris made a joke that he was looking forward to a sequel to “G.I. Jane,” which was ultimately a jab at Jada Pinkett-Smith’s shaved head. Jada has alopecia and didn’t take to the joke. When Will sat back down, he shouted to Chris, “keep my wife’s name out of your f*** mouth.”
Will also won his first Oscar for Best Actor in ‘King Richard.’ When he accepted his speech, he delivered a tearful apology to the academy, and the following day, he wrote an apology to Chris via a social media post.
As a result of the slap, Will is banned from the Oscars for ten years. He’s still able to get nominated. However, he can’t attend any events. Will responded, “I accept and respect the Academy’s decision.”
Chris hasn’t spoken about the situation head-on. He addressed it slightly during comedy shows. In May,, while performing at the United Kingdom’s Royal Albert Hall, Chris said, “I’m okay, if anybody was wondering.” Then he continued, “I got most of my hearing back.”
At another comedy show, Chris allegedly said he got slapped by the “softest n*gga that ever rapped.”
Thoughts on Tony’s statements? Let us know!