Photo Courtesy MGN
By Eva Windler
Chris Rock recently made his first public comments after Will Smith slapped him onstage at the Oscars. On the Wilbur Stage in Boston this week, Rock said he was “still processing” the incident. He was performing one of six shows in Boston this week, and had a set already lined up. Instead of changing the set, he said he still needed to think about what happened, and that he could talk about it more seriously, and with jokes, at a later time.
The incident at the Oscars was caused when Rock made a joke regarding Jada Pinket Smith’s alopecia areata. Pinket Smith, Will Smith’s wife, had just recently revealed she had this autoimmune disorder on Instagram. Rock compared her hair to Demi Moore’s in the 1997 film “GI Jane.” Will Smith confronted Rock on stage, and slapped him.
Smith apologized for his actions, including a statement to Rock posted on social media in which he said he was “out of line.” Ticket sales for Rock’s show in Boston skyrocketed after the incident.