Will Smith allegedly is holding some grudges against Chris Rock after their shocking exchange at the 2022 Oscars Awards.
Alleged sources close to the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” actor supposedly told In Touch Weekly on Jan. 20 that Smith is not over the incident whatsoever. The tabloid reports its unnamed tipster said Smith “will never forgive Chris for ruining his life, even though he’s managed to pick up the pieces in the last year or so.”
It’s unclear why Smith would still be upset, considering he got the better of Rock that evening.
Rock, who co-starred alongside Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith in the animated film “Madagascar,” hosted the 2022 Oscars. During the event, he joked about her bald hairstyle, comparing it to Demi Moore’s character in “G.I. Jane.”
Various angles show Pinkett Smith reacted by apparently laughing and rolling her eyes at the remark. Moments later, Will Smith stormed the stage, slapped Rock in the face, and returned to his seat, shouting for Rock to “keep [his] wife’s name out [his] f-cking mouth.”
It was a bittersweet night for Smith. Though he received the Academy Award for Best Actor that evening, his actions led to him being banned by the Academy from attending the awards for the next 10 years.
The Oscars ban hasn’t stopped his career from thriving, however. Smith went on to star in the fourth installment and box office hit, “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” alongside Martin Lawrence. The film grossed a whopping $404.2 million worldwide. A sequel to Smith’s 2007 film, “I Am Legend” is also in the works, and he’s working on his music career with plans to release a new album — his first since 2005.
Rock has been working too. In the fall of 2024 he released “Everybody Still Hates Chris,” an animated version of his series “Everybody Hates Chris,” which was based loosely on his childhood. But he hasn’t gotten his mind off of the almost three-year-old incident either.
In fact, Rock has brought it up multiple times in some of his stand-up comedy shows. About four months after the slap, Smith put out an apology video directed towards Rock but he did not accept it.
During a comedy show in London, in September, he said, “F-ck your hostage video.” Referencing the look of his apology video.
“From Chris’ end, he’s still haunted by what happened on that Oscars stage,” said the insider “He suffers from PTSD. Like Will, he’s never recovered from that slap.”
It doesn’t look like this will happen anytime soon but the source claims, “Others feel the best thing would be for these two egomaniacs to come together and hug it out, but they’re too proud.”
Fans reacted to the story in the comments of The Jasmine Brand’s repost.
“Jada defended Chris afterwards and said she found it weird because her and Will are not together and hadn’t seen each other for months. Be mad at her!!!” noted one person.
“Chris did not ruin your life .. your actions did,” said one person, bluntly to the “Emancipation” actor. Another asked, “Ruined his life how??? You are still making movies and sitcoms.”
A third person who was in disbelief about the latest reporting stated, “If Will didn’t say it.. I don’t believe it.. sources close to him wouldn’t tell his business. That’s someone that heard from someone that heard from someone that is “close to him.”
Smith has not spoken publicly about the slap since issuing his apology. Instead, he’s used his platform to promote a project that seemingly has fans thinking he could be joining the “Matrix” franchise.
