Portrait of Chris Rock & Will Smith

Chris Rock & Dave Chappelle Take Aim At Will Smith & His 'Hostage' Apology Video

Home / Stars / Chris Rock & Dave Chappelle Take Aim At Will Smith & His 'Hostage' Apology Video

By Kristin Myers on September 4, 2022 at 7:00 AM PDT

Comedians Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle had new comments to make about Will Smith and the apology video he released in July.

During the 94th annual Academy Awards ceremony in March, the "King Richard" actor slapped Rock, who was presenting, for making a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, and her hair loss condition, known as alopecia.

Smith later went back on stage that night to receive his first-ever Best Actor Oscar. Although Rock declined to press charges that night, he and his famous friends are making it pretty clear that this former friendship may be irreparably broken.

Article continues below advertisement

Chris Rock & Dave Chappelle Take Aim At Will Smith & His 'Impression of a Perfect Man for 30 Years'

Chris Rock
MEGA

As Deadline reported early Sunday morning, both Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle made an appearance at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday night as part of their ongoing European stand-up tour.

Rock took the stage first, and reportedly only spent a small amount of time discussing Will Smith. At one point, he appeared to take aim at the “Independence Day” actor and his viral apology video, saying, “f--- your hostage video.” This is the first time that Rock has directly addressed the video itself in public.

Article continues below advertisement
2022 Vanity Fair Oscar Party
MEGA
Article continues below advertisement

As in previous stand-up routines, Rock confirmed that Smith’s slap hurt, saying, “Yes, that s--- hurt. He played Ali. I can’t even play Floyd Mayweather.” He also referred to Smith as “Suge Smith” yet again, referencing the former Death Row Records music executive Suge Knight who is currently serving a 28-year jail sentence for voluntary manslaughter.

Rock also doubled down on previous comments that he is “not a victim” and went back to work the day after the slap. He then moved on to discuss other topics, such as Donald Trump and the Kardashian family’s dating lives.

Article continues below advertisement

Dave Chappelle Discusses Will Smith & ‘The Closer’ Netflix Controversy

Dave Chappelle at Dave Chappelle: Untitled - UK Film Premiere, London, UK
MEGA

Dave Chappelle talked about how he was attacked on stage in Los Angeles back in May, and, although he was fortunately uninjured, the suspect was armed. Chappelle said that incident has made him wary of performing on stage, because he can now no longer be sure if there is anyone in the audience who might try to hurt him.

“That was some scary s---,” Chappelle recalled before joking that Rock upstaged him that night by walking on stage and making a joke about Will Smith shortly after the attack occurred.

Chappelle then admitted that he didn’t know what his response would have been if he had been in Rock’s place and the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” had slapped him at the Oscars instead. However, he was sure that Smith would not have “enjoyed the rest of his night” if he had.

Article continues below advertisement
Dave Chappelle 3
MEGA

Chappelle also touched upon his controversial Netflix stand-up special, “The Closer,” and discussed the walkout from Netflix employees last year following the backlash to his special. Chappelle ended his set by asking the crowd to be themselves, and not like Will Smith, who he said, “did an impression of a perfect man for 30 years.”

“I just hope he doesn’t put that mask back on,” Chappelle added.

Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle will continue their tour of the U.K. and northern Europe before heading back to the United States at the end of September.

Article continues below advertisement

Will Smith Says Chris Rock Is Not Ready To Forgive Him Yet

LAPD was ready to arrest Will Smith but Chris Rock said no
MEGA

In the viral Instagram apology video, “The Pursuit of Happyness” actor began his video with a brief statement to his audience. “It’s been a minute… Over the last few months, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and personal work…” a message on the screen read. “You asked a lot of fair questions that I wanted to take some time to answer.”

When asked why he didn’t apologize to Chris Rock in his Oscars acceptance speech, Smith said he was “fogged out by that point” and said that his recollection is “fuzzy.”

2022 Vanity Fair Oscar Party
MEGA

“I reached out to Chris, and the message that came back is he’s not ready to talk, but when he is, he will reach out,” he said before addressing Chris directly. “So I will say to you, Chris, I apologize to you. My behavior was unacceptable and I’m here whenever you’re ready to talk.”

Smith also apologized to Rock’s family, mother, and brother, Tony Rock, who had appeared in the 2007 Smith-created sitcom “All of Us.” In the video, Smith recalled, “We had a great relationship,” adding, “Tony Rock was my man and this is probably irreparable.”

The full apology video can be seen here.

Article continues below advertisement