As much as Will Smith wanted Chris Rock to keep his wife’s name out his f*ckin’ mouth, the comedian wanted to lay as low as possible after The Slap. That included turning down good friend Jerry Seinfeld’s offer to appear in Unfrosted — primarily because his cameo would have spoofed that infamous Oscar moment.
As Jerry Seinfeld revealed on the Fly on the Wall podcast, he reached out to Chris Rock to let him get some remote revenge. “The other thing I wanted to do, that I almost did, was Chris Rock was gonna be the emcee of the Bowl and Spoon Awards. We shot that right after the Will Smith slap, and I was gonna have somebody come up on the stage and have Chris punch them out…Chris wasn’t…he wasn’t up to perform. He was still a little shook from the event. But that was what the scene was going to be. But Cedric saved the day.”
Seinfeld would go on to admit that he wasn’t sure the Unfrosted bit would ultimately work. I’d agree since it was still so fresh for Rock, so Seinfeld lucked out by not being allowed to capitalize on such a tough moment. There’s also the fact that it would have immediately felt dated, like the sort of gag one of those awful Friedberg/Seltzer movies would have shoehorned in. It also wouldn’t have really enhanced the movie in any way…
Chris Rock would address The Slap on his own terms, ditching Jerry Seinfeld and Unfrosted to instead take it head on in his standup routine, particularly his 2023 special Selective Outrage. Despite a 10-year ban from attending the Academy Awards, Will Smith has done his best to bounce back with a handful of movie roles, including next month’s Bad Boys: Ride or Die. But Chris Rock has come out better than anyone, showing he’s by far the bigger man.
While Jerry Seinfeld wasn’t able to get everyone he wanted for Unfrosted, he did still grab a number of comedian friends for roles, including Amy Schumer, Bill Burr, Thomas Lennon, Bobby Moynihan, Mikey Day, Kyle Mooney, Fred Armisen, Sebastian Maniscalo, and more.
Do you think Chris Rock should have done the Unfrosted cameo for Jerry Seinfeld or would it have been “too soon”? Share your thoughts below.