Chris Rock has jokingly compared his slap from Will Smith to last year’s attack on Paul Pelosi.
The comedian referenced former US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband during the Kennedy Centre awards on Sunday (March 19), honouring Adam Sandler with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humour.
“Paul Pelosi [is] the only guy who knows how I felt,” Rock said (via USA Today), comparing Will Smith slapping him at the 2022 Oscars to the October 2022 assault on Pelosi. “Just me and you, Paul.”
Paul Pelosi suffered a fractured skull after an intruder broke into their home, demanding to know where Nancy was. Pelosi had to undergo surgery following the attack.
Both Paul and Nancy Pelosi were present at the Kennedy Centre when Rock made the joke.
In Rock’s new stand-up special for Netflix, Selective Outrage, the comedian spoke in detail for the first time about the incident at last year’s Oscars.
Addressing his run-in with Smith, Rock said: “Everybody knows it happened. I got smacked a year ago. I got smacked at the Oscars by this motherfucker. And people are like, ‘Did it hurt?’ It still hurts. I’ve got ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ear.”
He went on to say he “wasn’t a victim. You’ll never see me on Oprah crying. Never going to happen. I couldn’t believe it, and I loved Men In Black. Nope! Fuck that shit, I took that hit like [boxer Manny] Pacquiao. Did it hurt? Yes motherfucker, it hurt.”
“I know you can’t tell on camera, but Will Smith is significantly bigger than me,” Rock continued. “He does movies with his shirt off. You’ve never seen me do a movie with my shirt off. Will Smith played Muhammad Ali in a movie. Do you think I auditioned for that part?”
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