Will Smith’s infamous slapping of Chris Rock at this year’s Oscars ceremony shattered the beloved Hollywood persona that the King Richard star had built up over a decades-long career, according to Dave Chappelle. According to The Telegraph, during a stop on Chappelle and Rock’s joint comedy tour in Liverpool, England, on Thursday, Chappelle said, “Will did the impression of a perfect person for 30 years, and he ripped his mask off and showed us he was as ugly as the rest of us.”
However, the comic added that he does not want to see Smith attempt to rebuild a facade. “Whatever the outcomes are… I hope he doesn’t put on his mask again and instead lets his real face breathe “said Chappelle “I see myself in both men,” he added. Chappelle also joked that when Smith struck Rock, not long before winning one of Hollywood’s highest honors, he was acting like he was back home. “I think a lot of people forget who Will Smith is,” he says. “Then, 10 minutes before he was about to receive the biggest award… he pretended to be back in Philadelphia.”
Smith won Best Actor for slapping Rock, who had made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, having a shaved head. (Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia.) Smith won an Oscar for his performance in King Richard as Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena Williams. He apologized to the Academy for the slap and attempted to explain his actions, saying, “Love will make you do crazy things,” but he did not mention Rock by name.
Smith apologized to Rock on social media after the ceremony and resigned from the Academy. In July, he also released a video in which he addressed the controversy in greater detail. At the comedy show on Thursday, Rock reportedly told the audience that Smith “hit me over a bulls joke, the nicest joke I ever told. The 57-year-old comedian hasn’t said much about the slap, but he did say last month that he was asked to host the Oscars telecast next year and declined.
In May, Chappelle was attacked on stage at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, and Rock was present. The first of three UK shows on Chappelle and Rock’s tour took place on Thursday. They’ll perform at London’s O2 Arena next, followed by headline shows across Europe, according to The Telegraph