Rose Rock – AKA Chris Rock‘s mom – is finally breaking her silence on the Will Smith Oscars slap.
At the 94th annual Academy Awards ceremony on March 27, Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, and her hair loss condition, known as alopecia, by referring to her as “G.I. Jane.” Smith stormed the stage, slapped Rock, then retook his seat and cursed at Rock, saying, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f—ing mouth” twice.
Smith retook the stage shortly after to claim his first-ever Best Actor Oscar for his role in “King Richard.” Smith resigned from the Academy at the beginning of April, and, shortly after, the Academy’s Board of Governors banned Smith from attending all in-person and virtual events for the next ten years.
Although Rock has not spoken out in-depth about the incident, his brothers and mother have broken their silence and explained how watching Rock get slapped on stage has affected them.
Chris Rock’s Mom Said It Felt Like The Whole Family Was Slapped
Rose Rock recently broke her silence in an interview with WIS TV in South Carolina, saying, “When he slapped Chris, he slapped all of us. He really slapped me, because when you hurt my child, you hurt me.”
She continued, “You reacted to your wife giving you the side-eye, and you went and made her day because she was mulled over laughing when it happened.”
Rose added, “No one heard his [acceptance] speech. No one was able to just be in the moment because everyone was sitting there like, ‘What just happened.'”
Rock’s brother Kenny recently spoke to the Los Angeles Times about the incident, saying that he felt “helpless” watching his brother being attacked.
Chris Rock’s Brother Says Will Smith Belittled His Brother In Front Of Millions
During the interview, Chris Rock’s brother, Kenny Rock, said that one of the worst parts about the Oscars slap incident is that footage of the event keeps being replayed over and over again in the media.
“It eats at me watching it over and over again because you’ve seen a loved one being attacked and there’s nothing you can do about it,” he told the publication. “My brother was no threat to him and you just had no respect for him at that moment. You just belittled him in front of millions of people that watch the show.”
He added that Chris was not aware of Jada’s alopecia diagnosis at the time he made the joke. Although the “Independent Day actor” actor resigned from the Academy, he did not lose his Oscar. Kenny, however, thought that Smith’s Oscar should have been returned.
Chris Rock’s Brother Says Will Smith ‘Embarrassed Himself’
Although Will Smith didn’t apologize to Chris Rock until Monday night, a day after the slap, Kenny did not accept his apology. On Sunday night, Smith had apologized to the Academy and to his fellow nominees, but not to Rock directly.
When asked if Kenny accepted Smith’s apology, he replied, “I might have looked at it differently had he initially apologized when he got on the stage and cried and accepted the award, but he didn’t, so right there that tells me that it is something else.”
He also didn’t think that Smith should have been allowed to stay in the audience after the Oscar slap, which has brought on a great deal of controversy. He said, “He should have been escorted out of there.” He added, “I hold them accountable for that. He could have went up there and did anything you wanted to my brother. It could have been much worse than what he did.”
He added, “In my opinion, he embarrassed himself by doing that and his legacy by doing that.”
Kenny added that Will Smith has yet to apologize to the family privately. It is unknown at this time if he has since reached out to make an apology, but considering how upset Mama Rock still seems about the incident, it seems unlikely that there’s been any communication in private since the slap.
