While the comedian chose not to attend the 95th annual Academy Awards following Will Smith Slap, he watched the event with fellow celebrities at a viewing party in Florida.
- Mar 13, 2023
AceShowbiz - Chris Rock snubbed the 2023 Oscars and watched the event at a viewing party in Miami, Florida instead. The comedian served as an emcee at last year's event which was marred by drama after Best Actor winner Will Smith stormed the stage and smacked the presenter for making a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith and, a year on, Chris decided to lay low on the east coast by attending the Vanity Fair and Xeomin viewing party at The Four Seasons Hotel in Miami on Sunday night, March 12.
Chris is seen in video footage from the event giving a big hug to the party's host - fellow comedian Whitney Cummings - before stopping to have a chat with her. It was previously rumored that Rock had turned down an invitation to host the 2023 ceremony following all the drama last year and the job went to fellow comedian Jimmy Kimmel instead.
It didn't take long for the funnyman to reference the now infamous slap as he mocked the incident in his opening monologue at the start of the ceremony at Los Angeles' Dolby Theatre by urging the star-studded crowd to listen to the "strict policies" that have been put in place.
He joked, "We want you to have fun. We want you to feel safe. And most importantly, we want me to feel safe. So we have strict policies in place. If anyone in this theatre commits an act of violence at any point during the show, you will be awarded the Oscar for best actor and be permitted to give an 18-minute long speech."
"Seriously, the Academy has a crisis team in place. If anything unpredictable or violent happens during the ceremony, just do what you did last year - nothing. Maybe even give the assailant a hug."
He also joked there was a high possibility of such an event having again. He quipped, "Five Irish actors are nominated tonight, which means the odds of another fight on stage just went way up."
