Chris Rock tells audience he's 'still kind of processing' Oscar slap

Chris Rock arrives at his show in Boston on Wednesday.

(Image credit: Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

published 31 March 2022

In his first comedy show since getting slapped by Will Smith at the Oscars on Sunday, Chris Rock told a cheering crowd in Boston that he is "still kind of processing what happened."

Rock, who didn't name Smith during his set, only briefly mentioned the incident; he started Wednesday night's show by quipping, "How was your weekend?" He told the audience upfront he "had like a whole show I wrote before this weekend," and "other than the weird thing, life is pretty good."

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During the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday, Smith walked onstage and slapped Rock after the comedian made a joke about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Later in the evening, Smith won the Best Actor award for his performance in King Richard, and in his speech he apologized to the Academy. Smith released a statement the next day telling Rock he was sorry for what happened, calling his behavior "inexcusable" and "wrong."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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