Chris Rock made his first stage performance just mere days after the infamous slapgate at the 94th Academy Awards. He broke his silence over the Oscar incident and addressed the controversy publicly at a standup show in Boston. The comedian received two back-to-back standing ovations from the audience at Boston’s Wilbur Theater that lasted several minutes.
“Let me be all misty and s***", Rock said with tears in his eyes. He began the show by asking the audience, "How was your weekend?" which was reciprocated with a burst of loud laughter. During the performance, Chris said, "I don't have a bunch of s*** about what happened, so if you came to hear that, I have a whole show I wrote before this weekend. I'm still kind of processing what happened. So, at some point, I'll talk about that s***. And it will be serious and funny." Ahead of the show, the comedian said, "I'm going to tell some jokes. It's nice to just be out."
Chris Rock and Will Smith made headlines when this year's Oscar ceremony aired. Chris Rock appeared on the stage to present an award for the best documentary, when he made a joke about Will Smith's wife and actor Jada Pinkett Smith comparing her to Demi Moore starrer G.I. Jane because of her shaved head, which triggered the I am Legend actor, who walked up to the stage and slapped Chris Rock in front of the whole world only to return to his seat and yell out, "Keep my wife's name out of your f*****g mouth." Upon receiving the award for Best Actor less than an hour later, Will Smith apologized to the Academy and its nominees for his actions but not to Chris. It was only the next day later that he apologized to Chris Rock via social media.