Chris Rock addressed his now-famous Oscars slap during a tour in Atlanta, hours after Will Smith released a video apology. In March, Smith slapped Rock on stage during the 2022 Academy Awards after the comedian made a joke about Jada Pinkett-Smith’s lack of hair, comparing her to a character from the movie GI Jane. Pinkett-Smith has spoken candidly about her struggles with alopecia areata, which causes hair loss. Rock acknowledged the shocking moment during Friday’s performance on the Chris Rock Ego Death World Tour. CNN reported that the 57-year-old said that “everyone is trying to be a victim.” “If everyone claims to be a victim, then no one will listen to the real victims. Even I get hit by Suge Smith…I went to work the next day, had kids,” she continued, comparing Smith to Suge Knight, ex CEO of Death Row Records is serving 28 years in prison for voluntary manslaughter. He added: “Anyone who speaks hurtful words has never been hit in the face.” Earlier that day, Smith posted a video on social media apologizing to the Spiral star for the slap. The video is titled “It’s been a minutes” and answers questions about what happened during the March telecast. “Over the last few months I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and personal work,” reads the title card. “You asked a lot of fair questions that I wanted to take some time to answer.” During the video, Smith shared that he has reached out to Rock, but that Rock “wasn’t ready” to talk. “Chris, I apologize,” Smith said. “My behavior was unacceptable and I’m here whenever you’re ready to talk.” She continued, “I want to apologize to Chris’ mother,” saying she saw an interview he gave about the slap. “That was one of the things in that moment. I just didn’t realize … how many people were hurt at that moment. So I want to apologize to Chris’ mother. I want to apologize to Chris’ family, specifically Tony Rock. “We had a great relationship. Tony Rock was my man. That’s probably beyond repair.”
