Chris Rock and Jada Pinkett Smith had come a long way before the popular slap happened at the Oscars. A friendship as old as 26 years between Rock, Jada, and Will Smith was put to the test by that moment, and now it seems there's no coming back from that. Let's take a walk down memory lane with them and see where it all went wrong.
Keep reading for all the details.
Will had quite a physical response to one of Rock's jokes at the 2022 Oscars Awards. The night which began on a light note quickly turned sour after Rock made an insensitive comment at the expense of Jada's health.
However, Will quickly realized the weight of his actions and offered a humble apology to the comedian a few days after the incident, but it was met with silence and rejection.
Now, Rock is dealing with it in his own way almost one year after the incident.
The 58-year-old appeared at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, which doubles as Jada's birthplace in his Netflix series, and he treated the audience to an amazing time with Jada and Will at the center of the jokes.
The comedian revealed to the audience that he watched Will's new movie "Emancipation" just to see him get beaten as he couldn't do it himself at the 2022 Oscars.
The stand-up special, Selective Outrage, had the comedian accuse Will of being picky with his battles. Rock claimed the slap wasn't really about him and it was just a way for Will to finally lash out following his knowledge of Jada's affair.
"But Will Smith practices selective outrage because everyone that knows what happened, everybody that really knows, knows I had nothing to do with that s***. I didn't have any entanglements."
The 58-year-old mocked the fact that Jada found love in the arms of a certain someone who was too close to home.
"His wife was f****** her son's friend."
The comedian confirmed he still gets "Summertime ringing in my ear f***** drums" whenever people ask him if his ear still hurts from the slap.
Rock, however, made it clear he isn't a victim in the situation and won't be caught dead trying to milk his encounter with Will to gain public sympathy.
"But I'm not a victim, you will never see me on Oprah or Gayle crying you will never see it, like, I couldn't believe it and I love Men in Black. No, it's never going to happen."
Rock even referenced boxer Manny Pacquiao in the joke.
"I took that hit like Pacquiao mother f*****."
He also admitted the size difference between Will and him made it a bit difficult for him to act in the spur of the moment,
"Will Smith does most of his movies with his shirt off. You've never seen me do a movie with my shirt off. If I'm in a movie getting open heart surgery, I'm in a sweater. Will Smith played Mohammed Ali in a movie, you think I auditioned for that part? He played Mohammed Ali, I played Pookie in New Jack City. I played a piece of corn in Pootie Tang. S*** even in animation this motherf****** [is] bigger: I'm a zebra, he's a shark."
The comedian claimed he wasn't trying to throw unprovoked jabs at the couple, but they decided to air out their dirty laundry, and he has no idea why they thought it was the best idea.
According to Rock, the confession by Jada that night on the Red Table Talk bruised Will's ego and made him look like a joke in front of everyone.
"I tried to call the motherf***** and give him my condolences. He wouldn't pick up for me."
Rock sure had a lot to get off his mind as he also spoke about the 2016 Oscars, where Jada approached him to boycott the ceremony and not host as part of the #OscarSoWhite protests.
"I shouldn't host because her man did not get nominated for [Concussion], the biggest piece of s**** ever. She starts it, I finished it."
The pair had been good friends for almost three decades before the Oscars happened. Rock and Jada have traveled for movie premieres, press briefings, and red carpets to promote three Madagascar films between 2005 & 2012.
They even appeared as presenters for Favorite Voice From An Animated Movie at the 2005 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award, which also had Will performing.
Rock has worked with Will on The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air as he appeared in a 1996 episode.
The comedian once told CNN in 2009 that Will was an exception to his soul-piercing jokes alongside Brad Pitt and Barack Obama.
Rock didn't keep Jada approaching him for that boycott hush-hush. He joked about it and even compared it to "boycotting Rihanna's panties."
Rock crossed the line again when he commented, "wow, you have a very understanding wife" under Will's birthday tribute to his ex-wife Sheree Zampino.
But Rock isn't the only one facing the consequences of his actions. Will bagged a 10-year ban from attending any Academy Events and a lifelong dose of heavy criticism after last year's slap.
