Chris Rock talks about incident with Will Smith at Oscars: “I’m not a victim” | Celebrities

“Anyone who says words can hurt has never been punched in the face,” Chris Rock said during one of his recent comedy shows in New Jersey. The comedian was referring to the blow he received from Will Smith in March. Rock was awarded the Oscar for best documentary, but joked about the bald head of Jada Pinkett Smith, Will’s wife, who suffers from alopecia. Thereupon, the actor walked onto the stage and punched Rock in the face. Once back in his seat, he yelled, “Keep the damn name of my wife out of your mouth.”

An awkward moment, with major consequences for Will Smith. The actor, who later apologized, has been banned from being a member of the Academy, the organization behind the Oscars, for ten years. Chris Rock has been largely silent about the incident in recent months. But now he talked about it a little more extensively. “I am not a victim,” he said. “Yeah, damn it, that hurt. But I put it behind me and went back to work the next day. I’m not going to the hospital for a paper cut.”

Shortly after the incident, Rock spoke briefly about what had happened. “I don’t have a lot to say about what happened,” he said at the time. “So if you came here to hear about that, I’ve got a whole show planned that I already wrote for this weekend. I’m still processing what happened. I’ll talk about it at some point. And it will be serious and funny.”

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