Chris Rock has played down Will Smith‘s slap at the 2022 Oscars.

At the ceremony that year, Smith slapped Rock onstage after the comedian made a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Following the incident, Smith apologised to Rock, resigned from the Academy, and was banned from attending Academy events for 10 years.

Smith later released another apology on YouTube in July 2022 where he described his behaviour as “unacceptable”, adding: “I just didn’t realise, I wasn’t thinking about how many people got hurt in that moment.”

Since the incident, Rock has joked about the Oscars slap during various stand-up shows, including a set with Dave Chappelle.

Leslie Jones previously said Rock sought counselling after being slapped by Smith. “That shit was humiliating. It really affected him. People need to understand his daughters, his parents, saw that. He had to go to counselling with his daughters,” she said at the time.

Now in new interview with Variety, he played down the incident when discussing his new film Misty Green starring Slow Horses actor Rosalind Eleazar, Adam Driver, Daniel Kaluuya, Anna Kendrick and Rock himself.

“I wish nothing would have happened,” Rock said. “And also, I don’t want to say anything that takes any attention away from Rosalind and how good she is in this movie. It’s a crazy world. We walk by homeless people. There’s all sorts of shit going on right now. Me having a bad day is not the biggest – it’s not that important.”

Smith has since poked fun at his slap on Rock on his 2025 album ‘Based On A True Story’.

From the outset on the opening track, ‘Int. Barbershop – Day’ starts with the phrase: “Will Smith is cancelled” before Smith’s Fresh Prince collaborator DJ Jazzy Jeff and B. Simone, trade barbs about the rapper such as “Who the fuck Will Smith think he is?” and “I ain’t never going to forgive him for that shit he did.”

It also tackles the Oscars incident more directly with the lyrics: “I heard he won the Oscar but he had to give it back / And you know they only made him do that shit because he’s Black.”

Misty Green is Rock’s first directorial effort in 12 years. It will premiere at the Toronto Film Festival on September 12 before it goes on general release on October 9.

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