Chris Rock Says Will Smith Oscars Slap Is ‘Not That Important’ Four Years Later

Chris Rock is looking at the 2022 Oscars confrontation with Will Smith from a different perspective, saying the infamous onstage moment no longer carries the same weight for him.

Chris Rock has offered one of his clearest reflections yet on being slapped by Will Smith at the Academy Awards, more than four years after the incident became one of the most discussed moments in Oscars history. Speaking with Variety while promoting his new film Misty Green, Rock made clear that he would rather keep the episode in perspective than continue centering it.

Asked how he feels about the slap now, Rock said, “I wish nothing would have happened.” He then pointed to larger problems beyond Hollywood and described his own experience that night as a bad day that, in the broader picture, is “not that important.”

The confrontation happened during the 2022 Academy Awards after Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith while presenting an award. Smith walked onstage and struck Rock, later apologized publicly, resigned from the Academy and was barred from attending Academy events for 10 years.

Rock has discussed the incident in stand-up since then, including his 2023 Netflix special Selective Outrage, but his latest comments suggest he has little interest in letting it dominate the conversation around his current work. His focus now is Misty Green, the film he wrote and directed and in which he also appears.

The movie stars Rosalind Eleazar in the title role, alongside Anna Kendrick, Adam Driver, Daniel Kaluuya and Topher Grace. Rock told Variety he did not want discussion of the Oscars incident to pull attention away from Eleazar’s performance, with the project marking his first feature directing effort since 2014’s Top Five.

Rock also sounded uncertain about ever returning to host the Oscars, praising current awards-show hosts and saying his own time in that role may have passed. He did leave one door open, saying the only way he expects to return to the ceremony is if he is nominated.

For now, Rock’s comments frame the slap less as a defining chapter and more as one difficult moment inside a much longer career. With Misty Green headed to theaters on October 9 after festival premieres, the comedian and filmmaker appears more interested in where his work is going next than in revisiting what happened on the Oscars stage.

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