Chris Rock revealed he’ll only return to the Oscars if he’s up for an award.
“I’m not getting nominated. The only way I’ll go back is if I’m nominated, and I’m not getting nominated,” Rock — who was famously slapped by Will Smith at the 2022 Oscars — said in a Variety interview published Tuesday.
“And that’s OK. We’ll deal with that if it happens,” the comedian added. “Like, let’s manage expectations.”
Rock, 61, hosted the Oscars twice, in 2005 and 2016, and presented at the annual award show multiple times, including the year he was assaulted by Smith, 57.
The infamous moment saw Smith lash out over Rock’s joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head at the 2022 event. (Pinkett Smith has struggled with alopecia for years.)
Smith — who won the the best actor award for “King Richard” later that night after the slap — was banned from the Academy Awards, and all Academy events, for a decade.
Rock, meanwhile, hasn’t been back to the Oscars since.
In his Variety interview, Rock was asked how he feels about the slap four years later, admitting that he wishes “nothing would have happened.”
“And also, I don’t want to say anything that takes any attention away from Rosalind [Eleazar] and how good she is in this movie,” Rock continued, referencing his new film “Misty Green” that he directed.
The “SNL” alum added, “It’s a crazy world. We walk by homeless people. There’s all sorts of shit going on right now. Me having a bad day is not the biggest — it’s not that important.”
Rock also indicated that he’ll never host the show again.
“When people answer those questions, they’re being disrespectful to the people that got the gig,” he told the outlet. “They have great hosts. Conan O’Brien is amazing. Nikki Glaser is amazing on the Golden Globes.”
“I’m not going to say never, but my time might have passed, honestly,” he added.
Rock previously addressed the incident during his 2023 Netflix comedy special, insisting he’s “not a victim.”
“You will never see me on Oprah [Winfrey] or Gayle [King] crying,” Rock said. “Never going to happen … I took that hit like [boxer Manny] Pacquiao. I took it like motherf–king Pacquiao. Did it hurt? Yeah, motherf–ker, it hurt.”
Smith, meanwhile, apologized directly to Rock on social media a day after the 2022 Oscars, writing, “I was out of line and I was wrong.”
“I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be,” the “Men in Black” star continued. “There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.”
Read the full article here
