The actor, 54, sent shockwaves around the world when he slapped Rock, 58, onstage after he made a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head – with Rock tearing into Will and Jada‘s relationship and addressing the slap on new Netflix show, Selective Outrage.
A source told the publication Smith has ‘felt terrible for so long’, adding: ‘He’s tried unsuccessfully to make amends in the best way he could with Chris.
‘But beyond that, family is important to him and [Smith] leaned on them. It all has helped him look inside and mature. He is better but still remorseful.
‘Will listened to those who tried to help him and feels that he has become a better person.’
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Remorse: Will Smith is ‘still remorseful’ over slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars and has tried ‘unsuccessfully’ to make amends with the comedian, a source told People this week
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Response: Chris ‘s long-awaited public response to being slapped by Smith has been met with high praise – with some calling it the ‘best brutal takedown’ in history
Chris‘s long-awaited public response to being slapped by Smith has been met with high praise – with some calling it the ‘best brutal takedown’ in history.
An industry source told People that Rock ‘is riding high from the Netflix special.’
They added: ‘He said what he needed to say and doesn’t give a s*** about the reaction either way. He isn’t worried.
‘People have been waiting for [Rock’s] reaction for a year. For the most part, I think it was well received. People don’t expect sugarcoating from Chris Rock.’
During his new Netflix standup special which premiered live Saturday night, Rock verbally hit back at Smith a year after the incident that saw Smith banned from the Academy.
In a nearly two minute segment, Rock fired off at Smith’s decision to slap him on stage at the awards ceremony, making Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith the butt of his joke about her infidelity.
‘Everybody called him a b**ch, and who’s he hitting? Me,’ Rock joked to a crowd that included a friend of Meghan Markle‘s who was spotted laughing backstage, according to Page Six.
The comedian also took aim at the former ‘Suits’ actress during his special, saying she was ‘acting all dumb’ for not realizing the royal family are the ‘OGs of racism.’
Rock’s rant has since been applauded on social media as ‘the perfect/best way’ to get back at Smith for the moment that changed both of their careers.
The comedian made audience members and live viewers wait until the last ten minutes of ‘Chris Rock: Selective Outrage’ before he addressed the slap.
‘You all know what happened to me, getting smacked by Suge Smith,’ the comedian joked. Rock said: ‘It still hurts. I got ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ears.’
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Digs: Bringing Jada up in the show, he addressed her affair and his frustration that he was the one who ‘bore the brunt’ of the couple’s marital troubles
Bringing Jada up in the show, he addressed her affair and his frustration that he was the one who ‘bore the brunt’ of the couple’s marital troubles.
‘Will Smith practices selective outrage,’ Rock said, giving a nod to the special’s title.
‘Everybody that really knows knows I had nothing to do with that. I didn’t have any entanglements…She hurt him way more than he hurt me.’
The slap occurred last year after Rock made a joke about Pinkett-Smith’s bald head, caused by alopecia.
Rock had joked that Pinkett-Smith was rocking a ‘G.I. Jane’ look which caused her husband to storm the stage and slap him, followed by him repeating: ‘Keep my wife’s name out your f***ing mouth!’
During his new standup special, Rock joked about his struggle in the year since.
‘Anybody that say “words hurt” has never been punched in the face,’ he said.
‘But I’m not a victim, baby. You’ll never see me on Oprah or Gayle crying,’ Rock said. He joked that he ‘took that s**t like [Manny] Pacquaio.’
The crowd in the audience laughed out loud while those at home took to social media to give their thoughts.
Chris Rock mocks Will Smith and accuses star of ‘selective outrage’
‘Like most comedians I’m continuously grateful for the existence of Chris Rock. Thank you comedy gods,’ wrote fellow comedian Jim Gaffigan.
‘Listen me when I tell you. THIS IS THE MOST SAVAGE MIC DROP OF ALL TIME. NUF RESPEC,’ wrote on Twitter user.
That user was referencing the mic drop at the end of his special when he responds to those who have asked why he didn’t slap Smith back, saying: ‘You know what my parents taught me? Don’t fight in front of white people.’
This comes after people called out Chris for getting a fact about Will Smith wrong for a joke he made during his Netflix special.
Chris quipped that he felt the slap and brought up some of Will’s movie roles to illustrate that one of them was an action star and the other a funny guy.
He said: ‘I know you can’t tell on camera – Will Smith is significantly bigger than me. We are not the same size, okay? Will Smith does movies with his shirt off. You’ve never seen me do a movie with my shirt off.
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Deliberate? Fans have criticised Chris Rock for ‘deliberately’ choosing the city of Baltimore – Jada Pinkett Smith’s hometown – to shoot his new Netflix special
Will Smith breaks his silence after infamous Chris Rock slap
‘If I’m in a movie getting open heart surgery, I’ve got on a sweater. Will Smith played Muhammad Ali in a movie.’
The comedian went on to compare their roles in cartoons, saying: ‘even in animated movies, I’m a zebra, he’s a f**king shark’.
This is in reference to the 2004 movie Shark Tale.
But Chris’ fans pointed out that Will did not play a shark but instead gave his voice to a fish, a bluestreak cleaner wrasse named Oscar to be precise.
Fans also criticised Chris Rock for ‘deliberately’ choosing the city of Baltimore – Pinkett Smith’s hometown – to shoot his new Netflix special.
