Chris Rock on Will Smith’s slap and his relationship with Jada Pinkett: ‘It hurt him more than me’

A good listener, a few words are enough. Because sometimes a saying is enough to clarify the situation, in this case the one generated by the unexpected triangle of discord born at the Oscars 2022 when Will Smith was so offended by a joke by Chris Rock addressed to his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, who he decided to take the stage and cross his face with an open hand. Both sides, both Smith and Rock, have since retaliated on numerous occasions, but in Rock’s case never so extensively.

Already in his time taking advantage of his comedy tour, Rock was keen to emphasize that he would never act like a victim, while Smith had to deny that his wife had anything to do with it: “No, I’ve made the decision. (…) Jada has nothing to do with it. I’m sorry, honey”. Now the comedian, in “Selective Outrage,” a live special made by Netflix (via Variety), He’s expanded when it comes to throwing darts more at Jada than Smith, an actor he claims he’s loved all his life. With that “It hurt him more than it hurt me” Rock is straightforward when it comes to pointing out what he sees as the root of the problem: the toxic relationship that marriage has been immersed in for years.

Rock advances the petty attraction, dropping that he was nothing more than a scapegoat due to the couple’s tension, alluding to what the comedian and actor describes as something “very low”: The ‘Red Table Talk’ episode in which the Smiths they talk very publicly about Jada’s infidelity. This program, described on its website as “Three generations of women (Jada, her daughter Willow and her mother) open their home for a series of candid conversations with family and friends about the most important and provocative topics of the day”dedicated a space to Will and Jada talking about his relationship. “His wife was fucking a friend of his son. Normally I wouldn’t talk about this shit… I have no idea why two talented people would do something so fucking low. We’ve all been fooled, we’ve all been cheated on, but none of us have ever been interviewed by the person who cheated on us on TV… It hurt him more than it hurt me.”.

It comes from afar

Rock adds that after that public airing of the Smiths’ dirty laundry, numerous programs referenced the Oscar-winning performer for ‘The Williams Method’ as the “bitch” of his wife. “Many called him a ‘bitch’ but who did he slap? Me”.

After this, he also hints that bad blood comes from afar between him and Jada, mentioning a conflict with which we return to the 2016 Oscars, a gala of which Rock hosted despite Jada Pinkett Smith calling for boycott of Academy due to lack of diversity in nominations. “She said she had to quit because Will wasn’t nominated for ‘Truth Hurts.’ What the fuck? So I made jokes about it, who cares? That’s right. She started it, I finished it. bitch started this shit”.