Chris Rock on the Slap: Not Talking 'Until I Get Paid'

'I got my hearing back,' he adds to audience in California
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 10, 2022 8:32 AM CDT
Chris Rock Jokes on Stage: 'I Got My Hearing Back'
Chris Rock, left, and Will Smith.   (AP Photo)

Chris Rock still isn't ready to talk in detail about The Slap in public, but he appears to have made his first joke about it on stage. "I'm OK, I have a whole show and I'm not talking about that until I get paid," Rock told fans Friday in Indio, California, per the Palm Springs Desert Sun. "Life is good. I got my hearing back." It's an elaboration of what he said at a previous show, his first one back after Smith smacked him on stage at the Oscars. "I'm still processing what happened," Rock said then. "So at some point I'll talk about that s---. It'll be serious. It'll be funny, but right now I'm going to tell some jokes."

On Friday, the Academy revealed its punishment of Smith, banning him from the Oscars ceremony and all related events for a decade. TMZ caught up with David Spade, a close friend of Rock's, who at first said the punishment seemed to make sense. But when pressed on whether it was harsh, he laughed. "Is it really punishment?" he asked. So Smith can't go to the Oscars or vote on movies: "Who cares?" Spade says he has spoken to Rock about the incident but declined to divulge any details. (More Chris Rock stories.)

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