After nearly a month since Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars, the comedian’s mother shares her thoughts.
Rose Rock stopped by an American news station in South Carolina over the weekend and opened up about the moment Smith decided to slap Rock after making a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. And at the time, Rock was unaware of Jada’s medical condition that causes severe hair loss.
The slap took so much away from the evening
Like many, the 77-year-old motivational speaker first thought the slap was staged while she was watching from home. However, when Smith started shouting profanities at her son, she realised that he meant it.
“When he slapped Chris, he slapped all of us,” Rock said, adding “he really slapped me.”
“You reacted to your wife giving you the side-eye and you went and made her day because she was mulled over laughing when it happened,” Rock said.
She continue by saying how excited Chris was to announce and give Questlove his first Academy Award. However, because of Smith’s slap, the moment was taken away.
“No one even heard his speech. No one was able to just be in the moment because everyone was sitting there like, ‘what just happened?’” she said.
Rose Rock is still proud of her son
This was the one year that Rose did not attend the Oscars. And when she saw the slap on live television, the only thing she could do is reach out to her son.
And she did just that – telling him that she was proud of how he reacted.
However, she adds that that was hard for her to do as a mother. Because all she could think about is how different it could have ended.
Will Smith’s lack of apology is hurful
When asked about how the Academy handled the situation, Rock agreed that his award shouldn’t be taken away. However, either way, she doesn’t see “any good way they could have taken him out without disrupting”.
Since the incident, Smith has been banned from attending the Oscars for 10 years.
However, what’s hurting the Rock family the most is Smith’s lack of apology.
“I feel really bad that he never apologized.”
The only form of apology Smith made was by releasing a statement where he apologised to the Academy and to Rock, however, he has never personally reached out to the comedian after the incident.
“I mean his people wrote up a piece saying I apologize to Chris Rock, but you see something like that is personal, you reach out.”
