© Reuters
By Lisa Richwine
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A year after being slapped onstage at the Oscars, Chris Rock made a pass at Will Smith and his wife in a comedy special streamed live worldwide, joking that he liked see the actor get beaten up in his latest film.
Live on Netflix (NASDAQ:) this past Saturday from the Hippodrome Theater in Baltimore, Rock said he was watching slavery drama “Emancipation” only to see Smith “get his ass beat”, yelling “beat him again” and ” need to hit there”.
In March 2022, Smith took the Oscars stage and slapped Rock in the face, after the comedian made a joke about the appearance of Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. The “King Richard: Creating Champions” star returned to his seat in the audience and later won the best actor award.
Rock was largely silent about the incident until the end of his hour-long special, when he accused Will Smith of “selective revolt,” which is also the name of his special.
The comedian said Pinkett Smith stoked tensions between the three, in part when he called for a boycott of the Oscars in 2016 when Rock hosted. Pinkett Smith said he was protesting the fact that Will Smith and other black actors were not nominated.
Rock, who is also black, made fun of Pinkett Smith at the Oscars that year and again last year.
“She started it, I finished it,” Rock said.
Rock also mentioned marriage issues that the Smiths discussed in public. Pinkett Smith has admitted to having an affair. “She hurt him way more than he hurt me.”
Representatives for the Smiths did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Will Smith issued a statement apologizing to Rock and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the group that delivers the Oscars, the day after he slapped Rock. The academy banned Smith from attending the Oscars for 10 years.
The comedy special was the first event broadcast live by Netflix, which is testing the technology as it considers expanding to other real-time programming.
Netflix agreed to pay $40 million for two Rock comedy specials in a deal struck in 2016, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
Rock spent most of the show talking about topics like the British royal family, the Kardashians, abortion and his love life. He concluded by saying why he didn’t fight back when Smith assaulted him.
“I have parents, and do you know what my parents taught me?” he said. “Don’t fight in front of white people.”