Three days after the infamous slap incident at the Oscars 2022, comedian Chris Rock finally reacted to the controversy at his Ego Death World Tour on Wednesday (early Thursday as per IST).
For the uninitiated, 57-year-old comedian Chris Rock was slapped by Will Smith at the 94th Academy Awards.
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Rock was spotted for the first time after the incident in Boston. He received an applause from the Boston audience as he arrived on stage and was almost embarrassed by the multiple standing ovations he received.
Rock performed a stand-up show in Boston on Wednesday evening to a sold-out crowd, joking "how was your weekend?" before saying he did not plan to address the incident at length.
While the ticket prices for his six shows skyrocketed after the Oscar confrontation, the comedian made it clear he wasn’t going to talk at length about the incident. “If you came to hear that, I’m not ... I had like a whole show I wrote before this weekend,” he said.
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Chris Rock said he is "still processing" the incident that made headlines around the world.
"I'm still processing what happened, so at some point, I'll talk about that shit," Rock told the crowd. "It'll be serious. It'll be funny, but right now I'm going to tell some jokes."
During his performance, Chris only briefly addressed the slap at the Oscars and never mentioned Will by name. “Other than the weird thing, life is pretty good,” he said at one point mid-way through his act.
At the Oscars 2022, Chris Rock was on stage to present the trophy for best documentary. He made a joke about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, that referenced the 1997 film "G.I. Jane" in which actress Demi Moore shaved her head, following which Will Smith strode onto the stage and slapped Rock.
Will later apologized to Rock and the academy in a statement on Monday.