Chris Rock joked about the Academy Awards drama and the infamous Will Smith slap from March while doing a comedy tour in Atlanta. This tour appearance came after Will Smith posted an on-camera apology to Chris Rock and his family. The comedian doesn’t reference the video but does joke he was slapped by “Suge Smith” during his comedy set via PEOPLE.
Chris Rock was performing at Atlanta’s Fox Theater as a part of his “Ego Death World Tour,” and during his set, the comedian compared Will Smith to former Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight, who is currently serving a 28-year prison sentence after pleading no contest to voluntary manslaughter in 2018 following a fatal confrontation in Los Angeles in 2015. Here is what Rock said during his set, where he also seems to be annoyed by everyone trying to play the victim:
“Everybody is trying to be a f—ing victim. If everybody claims to be a victim, then nobody will hear the real victims. Even me getting smacked by Suge Smith … I went to work the next day, I got kids.”
Rock added, “Anyone who says words hurt has never been punched in the face.” This echoes sentiments that Rock said during his comedy set in New Jersey the weekend before when he said, “I’m not a victim. Yeah, that s*** hurt, motherf****er. But, I shook that s*** off and went to work the next day. I don’t go to the hospital for a paper cut.”
Comparing Will Smith to Suge Knight is a bit of a stretch, but I’m sure it worked to get a big laugh from the crowd in attendance, especially those familiar with the former co-founder of Death Row Records. Suge Knight was known for music but even more for his temper and acts of intimidation. He was also the alleged ring leader in a string of violent occurrences. Tupac Shakur was in Suge Knight’s care when he was killed in a drive-by in Las Vegas in September 1996, while a similar drive-by shooting took the life of Shakur’s East Coast rival, The Notorious B.I.G., in March of 1997. Knight also had felony convictions for armed robbery and assault, and he ultimately lost control of Death Row Records when it was forced into bankruptcy in 2009.
What is clear is that Chris Rock still isn’t ready to talk to Will Smith, despite his apology video, and that might be the case for the foreseeable future. The comedian is dealing with it the best way he can, and that’s through his comedy, and given the fact that he was the one that was slapped, I’d say that’s pretty fair.
What are YOUR thoughts on Chris Rock’s latest joke about the Will Smith slap?