Chris Rock Finally Opens Up About Will Smith’s Infamous Slap In Netflix Special

Chris Rock, during a live Netflix special on Saturday, quipped that he had Will Smith’s “Summertime” ringing in his ears after the Best Actor winner infamously slapped him at the Oscars last year.

Rock, who has been relatively quiet about “The Slap,” opened up about Smith’s infamous hit roughly a year after his joke aimed at Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith.

Rock, during his “Selective Outrage” special, joked that he “took that shit like” Manny Pacquiao following the slap.

“People are like ‘Did it hurt?’ I got ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ears,” said Rock, who addressed the slap in depth more than an hour into his special.

Rock, who declared that he’s not a victim, tackled a number of topics in his special including “wokeness,” politics, the Jan. 6 attack and his love life.

He also examined Smith’s career in Hollywood in one joke including his “shirtless” appearance in movies and remarked about how he’s a “big dude” unlike himself.

“If you see me in a movie getting open heart surgery, I got on a sweater,” Rock said.

He continued: “Will Smith played Muhammad Ali, you think I auditioned for that? I played Pookie in ‘New Jack City’. I played a piece of corn. Even in animated movies this motherfucker is bigger. I’m a zebra, he’s a shark.”

Rock also made light of Smith and his wife’s “entanglement” discussion where Pinkett Smith opened up about a relationship with August Alsina during a “Red Table Talk” episode in 2020.

“His wife was fucking her son’s friend. I normally wouldn’t not talk about this shit… No one has ever been interviewed by the person who cheated on us on television. Why the fuck would you do that shit?” Rock asked.

“She hurt him way more than she hurt me. Everybody in the world called him a bitch. I tried to call the motherfucker, I tried to call that man and give him my condolences… Everybody called him a bitch and who did he hit? Me.”

Rock later took a jab at Smith despite praising his work in Hollywood.

“I rooted for Will Smith my whole life and now I watch ‘Emancipation’ just so I could watch him get whooped,” Rock said.

He would then comment about the idea that “words hurt” and subtly tied the hit from Smith into his bit.

“Anybody who says ‘words hurt’ has never been punched in the face. Words hurt when you write them on a brick,” Rock quipped.

He also referred to rapper Snoop Dogg but promised that he wasn’t dissing the famed West Coast artist.

“The last thing I need is another mad rapper,” he joked.

Rock’s special comes nearly a year after Smith’s actions led to an apology and his subsequent resignation from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on top of a 10-year-ban from its events.

Rock’s special is set to be available on Netflix following its live screening on Saturday.