Chris Rock made a high-profile return to the Oscars social scene, attending the Vanity Fair Oscars Party on March 2—his first time at the star-studded event since the 2022 Academy Awards, where he was slapped onstage by Will Smith.
Dressed in a classic black tuxedo, Rock arrived at the event with his youngest daughter, Zahra Rock, and posed for photos before addressing the infamous altercation. When asked about whether he had moved past the moment that led to Smith’s 10-year ban from Academy events, Rock responded with a message of forgiveness.
“I live in forgiveness. True love starts at forgiveness,” he told E! News. He also shared his thoughts on the importance of letting go, saying, “The most miserable people on earth are people that can’t forgive. And not just people—you have to forgive yourself sometimes.”
As for whether he would consider returning to the Oscars stage as a host for a third time, Rock left the door open. “You never know,” he said.
Rock, who previously hosted the Academy Awards in 2005 and 2016, was presenting the award for Best Documentary Feature at the 2022 ceremony when he made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head. The comment, referencing the film G.I. Jane, led Smith—who later won the Oscar for Best Actor that night—to walk onstage and slap Rock, before shouting, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f---ing mouth.”
The following day, Smith publicly apologized, calling his actions “unacceptable and inexcusable,” while also acknowledging that he reacted emotionally to a joke about his wife’s battle with alopecia. Days later, he resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Rock’s latest remarks mark a change in his stance on returning to the Academy Awards. In the months following the incident, he had joked during stand-up performances about declining an offer to host the 2023 Oscars, comparing it to returning to the scene of a crime. He quipped at a 2022 show that hosting again would be like asking Nicole Brown Simpson to go back to the restaurant where she left her glasses the night of her murder.
Despite past reluctance, Rock now seems open to the idea, leaving fans wondering if he could once again take center stage at Hollywood’s biggest night.
Source: Entertainment Weekly