During this year's Oscars ceremony, Will Smith famously slapped Chris Rock, shattering the revered Hollywood persona that the King Richard actor had cultivated over a decades-long career. Dave Chappelle has commented on this incident.
On Thursday, Chappelle and Rock's joint comedy tour made a stop in Liverpool, England said, "Will did the impression of a perfect person for 30 years, and he ripped his mask off and showed us he was as ugly as the rest of us," according to The Telegraph.
The cartoonist clarified that he does not want to see Smith attempt to reassemble a facade. "Whatever the consequences are… I hope he doesn't put his mask back on again and lets his real face breathe," Chappelle said. And, he noted, "I see myself in both men."
In addition, Chappelle said that Smith was acting like he was in his hometown when he hit Rock, just before winning one of Hollywood's biggest awards. "A lot of people forget who Will Smith is," he said. "Then 10 minutes before he was about to get the biggest award… he acted like he was back in Philadelphia."
Shortly after slapping Rock for making a joke about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, having a shaved head, Smith was awarded the Best Actor Oscar. Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia. In King Richard, Smith received the Academy Award for his depiction of Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena Williams. He apologised to the Academy for the slap and made an attempt to justify his behaviour by adding, "Love will make you do crazy things," although he did not specifically reference Rock in his statement.
Smith apologised to Rock on social media a few days after the event and then left the Academy. In July, he also made a video that went into further depth on the incident. Rock spoke about the incident during the comedy show on Thursday, allegedly telling the audience that Smith "hit me over a bulls--- joke, the nicest joke I ever told." The 57-year-old comedian hasn't talked much about the slap, although he did mention last month that he was approached to host the Oscars show the following year but turned it down.
When Chappelle was assaulted on stage at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles in May, Rock was also there. The first of three U.K. performances on Chappelle and Rock's tour took place on Thursday. Following a performance in London's O2 arena, they will play headlining shows across Europe.
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