Chris Rock, 57, has feelings about Will Smith slapping him after a joke about Jada Pinkett-Smith‘s saved head at the Oscars, but he’s not going public with them until he gets money for it. The comedian had a comedy show in Indio, CA on April 8, and told the audience he’s doing “OK” after the headline-making incident, which caused Will to be banned from attending the Academy Awards for 10 years, but he won’t talk about it until he gets “paid,” according to the Palm Desert Sun.
“I’m OK, I have a whole show, and I’m not talking about that until I get paid. Life is good. I got my hearing back,” he reportedly told the audience.
It’s not clear what Chris means by getting “paid,” but there are a lot of possibilities. He could very well be talking about giving an exclusive interview to a network. Although he’s most likely been approached by several to speak his thoughts, perhaps they weren’t offering enough. Another possibility is he’s planning a civil lawsuit against Will, which would give him an opportunity to be paid. It’s also very possible Chris is just joking and will eventually speak out when he’s ready.
Before his latest comedy gig, Chris spoke publicly for the first time since the slap at his comedy show in Boston, MA on March 30. At that time, he told the show attendees that he was “still processing” what happened. “I don’t have a bunch of s— about what happened,” he reportedly said, before revealing he already wrote his whole comedy show before the headline-making slap happened. “I had like a whole show I wrote before this weekend. I’m still kinda processing what happened. So at some point, I’ll talk about that s–. So I’m gonna tell some jokes It’s nice to be out.”
Chris also reportedly said he he wasn’t “going to address” it at all during a surprise appearance at the Comedy Cellar on April 5. “He literally only addressed it as the the crowd was going wild for his surprise appearance, and he got on stage and said, ‘Lower your expectations. I’m not going to address that s–t,’” an audience member told Page Six.
Shortly after the slap, which took place on March 27, Will released a statement that included an apology to Chris and all the people he affected. He’s since resigned from The Academy and “accepted and respected” The Academy’s decision to ban him from the annual ceremony for 10 years.