One year later, Chris Rock talks about the slap at the Oscars
The Academy has created a crisis team to prevent a recurrence of the moment between the comedian and the performer.
The slap Will Smith gave Chris Rock at the 94th Oscars was one of the most talked about moments of the ceremony. Twelve months later, the comedian decided to talk about the controversy. He did so on the Netflix special, Chris Rock: Selective Outrage, where he claimed that the slap Smith gave him "still hurts."
However, Chris Rock claims that Will Smith was not really hurt by the comments the comedian dedicated to his wife, but was actually disappointed by the deception he had suffered at the hands of Jada Pinkett Smith. Something for which, he assured, he is not responsible:
He also dedicated words to Will Smith. He explained that he had always been an actor whose films he enjoyed. I considered him a great interpreter. However, after the moment at the Oscars, his perspective changed. Now, he likes to watch Smith's new series, Emancipation, to see him suffer: "I've loved Will Smith all my life. I've supported Will Smith all my life... now I watch Emancipation just to see him get his ass kicked."
In addition, he also explained why he decided not to hit back. It was not for lack of desire, but because his parents had taught him to behave better. And even more so at an event as big as the Oscars: "A lot of people have asked me, how come you didn't do anything that night? Because I have parents and they taught me not to fight in front of white people."
Academy tightens rules
Chris Rock chose not to respond to Will Smith's slap, but the Academy did take action. First, they accepted the King Richard actor's resignation from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. They also vetoed his attendance at the gala for the next ten years. These were not the last actions they took to avoid a situation like last year. As Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences CEO Bill Kramer explained to Time magazine, a strategy has been devised to avoid another slap in the face at the Oscars:
As Kramer explained, the objective of this "crisis team" is to anticipate. They want to avoid a repeat of last year at all costs. If something similar happens, they have also created strategies to issue a statement more promptly than last year:
The team, for the moment, seems to be working. Bill Kramer explained that they had to set it up during the announcement of the nominees for the 95th edition when discussions began over the campaigns of the candidates who were in the running for a statuette: