Chris Rock will not return to the Oscars stage in 2023. During a stand-up show in Phoenix this Sunday, the comedian announced that the organizers of the Oscars had asked him to be the master of ceremonies for the next edition, as reported by the local newspaper republic of arizona .
The comedian refused due to the bitter memory of Will Smith’s slap in the face in the middle of the ceremony, while Chris Rock was preparing to present the Oscar for best documentary.
“It would be like asking Nicole Brown Simpson to go back to the restaurant” where she ate the night she was murdered at her home in Los Angeles,” Chris Rock joked during his show, referring to the murder of the football player’s wife. OJ Simpson in 1994.
During his show, Chris Rock also revealed that he was approached to star in a Super Bowl commercial after the incident, which he also turned down.
“Still digesting what happened”
On March 28, Chris Rock was slapped on the Oscars stage by Will Smith after making a hair joke about the actor’s wife, who suffers from alopecia.
After this altercation, the actor, who had just won the award for best actor for his role in The Williams Method, publicly apologized for his gesture and announced his resignation from the Academy. He was also banned from all Academy events for ten years.
In July, four months after the events, Will Smith came out of silence and apologized again in a five-minute video. He said that he contacted Chris Rock, who is “not ready to talk” at this time.
Since then, the comedian has made numerous references to the slap during his monologues. He had initially said on stage that he was “still digesting what happened.”
Source: BFM TV
