Chris Rock told a crowd in Phoenix on Sunday that he was asked to host next year’s Oscars after Will Smith infamously slapped him during the show, but he turned down the invitation.
Rock joked around during his stand-up set, according to the republic of arizona, that returning to the Oscar stage would be like returning to the scene of a crime. And he referenced the OJ Simpson murder trial, saying it would be like asking Nicole Brown Simpson “to come back to the restaurant.”
Rock also said that he has since been offered the opportunity to appear in a Super Bowl commercial, but has also turned down that request.
A representative for the Film Academy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rock has presented the Oscars twice, first in 2005 and then again in 2016, which came just as the Academy was dealing with the #OscarsSoWhite controversy. ABC entertainment president Craig Erwich said in an interview with Term earlier this month that the network would be open to Rock hosting the ceremony again, and new Academy president Bill Kramer indicated that the Academy wants to have a host for next year’s ceremony, which will take place on March 12. But it will be some time before producers or presenters are announced for the occasion.
While Rock has generally avoided talking about the Smith slap during his ongoing tour, he did touch on the subject briefly onstage in Phoenix on Sunday when someone in the crowd asked Rock to “talk about it.” The Arizona Republic says Rock acknowledged that Smith’s slap hurt and that it was not lost on him that Smith once played Muhammad Ali in a biopic.
“He’s bigger than me,” Rock said. “The state of Nevada would not approve of a fight between myself and Will Smith.”
Smith late last month posted an emotional apology video, which some criticized for being a pre-recorded production rather than sitting down with a reporter. In it, she said that she reached out to Rock and received a message in return only that Rock will reach out when he’s ready to talk.
“I apologize, my behavior was unacceptable and I’m here when you’re ready to talk,” the “King Richard” actor said in his video. “There isn’t a part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave at the time. There isn’t a part of me that thinks that’s the optimal way to handle a feeling of disrespect or insult.”
Rock, however, indirectly responded at a separate show shortly after the apology was posted, saying, “Everyone is trying to be a fucking victim. If everyone says they are victims, no one will listen to the real victims.”
Smith during the Oscars earlier this year took the stage and slapped Rock after the comedian joked that Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, who has alopecia, should star in a “GI Jane” sequel because of her head. shaved. He then yelled twice from her seat: “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth.”
As a result, Smith was barred from the Oscars for 10 years, and Smith also renounced his Academy membership, although his Oscar was not revoked and he will be unrestricted from being eligible for future awards.
