In a newly-surfaced clip from the moment after Will Smith smacked him across the face, the 'Grown Ups' star looks distraught as he shrugs toward someone while still onstage.
- Apr 1, 2022
AceShowbiz - New footage has surfaced online, capturing Chris Rock's reaction moments after Will Smith slapped him at the 2022 Academy Awards. In the clip, the comedian looked distraught as he remained onstage.
The new footage wasn't seen during the Oscars broadcast, but has since been posted on TikTok by user @sincerelyordinary. The clip zooms in on Chris, who appears to be stupefied, as Questlove and friends took the stage to accept the award and deliver their speeches.
The "Saturday Night Live" alum looked around as he seemingly tried to comprehend what just happened. At one point, he looked in the audience and shrugged toward someone unseen as if to suggest he wasn't sure why Will slapped him.
At the Sunday, March 27 ceremony, Will smacked Chris across the face after the latter joked about Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head. Will issued a public apology one day after the incident. "My behavior at last night's Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable," he said in a statement posted on Instagram on Monday.
"I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris," he continued. "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."
Meanwhile, Chris broke his silence on Wednesday during his first comedy show since the incident. Taking the stage at The Wilbur in Boston, he hinted that he hasn't spoken to Will since the incident as he told the crowd, "I haven't talked to anyone despite what you may have heard."
"I don't have a bunch of s**t about what happened, so if you came to hear that, I have a whole show I wrote before this weekend. I'm still kind of processing what happened," the "Grown Ups" star said, adding that he would eventually talk about it later, "So, at some point I'll talk about that s**t. And it will be serious and funny."
As fellow celebrities and social media users continue debating about the slap, Daniel Radcliffe is ready to move on. When asked about his opinion on the matter during an appearance on "Good Morning Britain", he responded, "I'm just so already dramatically bored of hearing people's opinions about it that I just don't want to be another opinion adding to it."
