Chris Rock publicly confirmed this week that, after the infamous slap from Will Smith at least year’s Oscars, he turned down an offer from AMPAS to host next year’s show.
The Academy did not respond to a request for comment.
Deadline first reported the offer, and Rock’s refusal thereof, in June. The comedian has hosted the event twice, in 2005 and 2016.
Rock made the public statement at Arizona Financial Theatre in downtown Phoenix last night. He also said he had been offered a Super Bowl commercial, but declined that as well.
According to the Arizona Republic, Rock joked that hosting the Oscars next year would be like asking Nicole Brown Simpson “to go back to the restaurant.”
“He’s bigger than me,” Rock said of Smith. “The state of Nevada would not sanction a fight between me and Will Smith.”
Rock said at a Madison Square Garden show in June that he shook Smith’s blow off nearly as soon as it happened.
He said, “I’m not a victim. Yeah, that sh*t hurt, motherf*cker. But I shook that sh*t off and went to work the next day. I don’t go to the hospital for a paper cut.”
Even though Smith issued a video apology for slapping Rock, the comedian and former Oscar host did not address what was said by Smith. Deadline reported on July 29 that the actor finally broke his silence about his actions and how it affected not only Chris Rock, but his wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
