Chris Rock has reportedly turned down an offer to host the next year’s Academy Awards ceremony after he has been humiliated by the Will Smith slap this year.
During a Sunday night show at the Arizona Financial Theatre in downtown Phoenix, according to the Arizona Republic, the comedian said that he had enough of hosting the awards. At the 2022 Academy Awards, Chris Rock received a slap from the famous actor Will Smith while on stage.
Chris Rock Declined To Host The 2023 Academy Awards After Will Smith Slap Out Of Fear To Make Jokes
After making a ‘salty’ joke about Will’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith, Will stood up and slapped him in the face. The incident happened right before Chris was about to present the award for the best documentary feature. Or exactly 1 hour before Will Smith accepted the best actor award for his performance in King Richard.
Chris Rock declined the offer in his own ‘comedian’ style. He referenced O.J Simpson’s wife’s murder trial. Nicole Brown Simpson’s murder happened at an Italian restaurant, and asking him to go back to the Oscars, is the same as asking her to go back to the restaurant. He won’t repeat this mistake.
The comedian confesses that his standup comedy audience regularly forces him to speak about the slap. He often does these stand-up comedy shows throughout the United States, where the audience is eager to hear him talk about the Oscars incident. He recalls a recent event where a fan yelled from the audience, “Talk about it!”
When finally Chris Rock decided to have his take on it, he compared Will Smith with Muhammed Ali in the 2001 drama ‘Ali’ for which Smith got his first Oscar nomination.
“He’s bigger than me.” – Chris Rock concluded. “The state of Nevada would not sanction a fight between me and Will Smith.”
At the moment there is no official statement from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences about the alleged decline of the invitation.
Right after the incident took place back in April, the Academy’s board of governors gave Will Smith a ban. They banned him from attending the Oscars, or any other Academy event for the next 10 years.
The academy is allegedly actively searching for a host that will take on the 2023 Academy Awards. The newly appointed Academy CEO Bill Kramer states they are “committed to having a host on the show this year”. He says they are “already looking at some key partners on that.”
As for the infamous slap that marks both Will Smith’s and Chris Rock’s careers the new CEO is very clear. It will not be a point of discussion, nor a joke topic at the next ceremony. “We want to move forward and to have an Oscars that celebrates cinema. That’s our focus right now,”
