After Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars, there were many comedians rushing around, defending Rock. They argued that they should be able to tell any joke they wanted to without being slapped. They argued that Chris Rock is a really good guy, despite his history of insulting and denigrating Black women. While I know many comedians have personal relationships and even deep friendships with Rock, I also think there are still layers to what went down on that night and afterwards. Rock has every right to process the slap however he wants, and Will Smith has the right to tell Rock that he should take Jada’s name out of his f–king mouth permanently. Well, Leslie Jones has some comments about the slap…19 months later.
Leslie Jones told People magazine while promoting her new memoir, “Leslie F*cking Jones,” that her longtime friend Chris Rock went to counseling after Will Smith slapped him at the 2022 Academy Awards. Rock wrote the foreword to Jones’ new book.
“That s–t was humiliating. It really affected him,” Jones said. “People need to understand his daughters, his parents, saw that. He had to go to counseling with his daughters.”
Variety has reached out to Rock’s representative for comment.
Jones added that the Oscars slap “infuriated” her, adding, “You don’t know that I was going to jump in my car and roll up there. I was so f–king mad on so many levels… Chris Rock did a f–king joke. I know Will, too… I was like, you couldn’t handle that sh-t afterwards? This is the Oscars. The whole world is watching.”
“That s–t was humiliating” – in the same sense that Rock was trying to publicly humiliate a woman with alopecia? In the same sense that Rock always has something derogatory to say about Black women, up to and including his ex-wife and his daughters? I mean, I’m not going to relitigate this sh-t for the millionth time and I’m not even sure Chris Rock even wants this information out here. I think Leslie is trying to promote her book and that’s why she’s talking about the slap. But for the love of God, “he had to go to counseling with his daughters” – the same daughters he regularly mocked in his stand-up?
Photos courtesy of Getty, Avalon Red.
- Tyler Perry, and Oscar® nominees Will Smith and Denzel Washington during the 94th Oscars® at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles, CA, on Sunday, March 27, 2022.,Image: 673515395, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Avalon Licensing Ltd. do not claim any Copyright of the attached image WORLD RIGHTS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
- Oscar® nominee Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith during the 94th Oscars® at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles, CA, on Sunday, March 27, 2022.,Image: 673515422, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Avalon Licensing Ltd. do not claim any Copyright of the attached image WORLD RIGHTS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
- Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith during the live ABC telecast of the 94th Oscars® at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles, CA, on Sunday, March 27, 2022.,Image: 673515557, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Avalon Licensing Ltd. do not claim any Copyright of the attached image WORLD RIGHTS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
- Chris Rock backstage at the live ABC telecast of the 94th Oscars® at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles, CA, on Sunday, March 27, 2022.,Image: 673582761, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Avalon Licensing Ltd. do not claim any Copyright of the attached image WORLD RIGHTS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
- LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MAY 10: Leslie Jones attends the Los Angeles premiere of Netflix’s “The Mother” at Westwood Regency Village Theater on May 10, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.,Image: 775118853, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Leslie Jones, Credit line: Jeffrey Mayer / Avalon
