The comedian, who claims he could not speak freely then, reveals that 'sensitive' Chris Rock didn't want to talk to anybody after the 'Bad Boys' actor slapped him onstage during the awards show two years ago.
- Jun 12, 2024
AceShowbiz - Rob Schneider has ripped Will Smith for his controversial action two years ago. During his radio show appearance, the actor/comedian has slammed the Oscar winner for slapping Chris Rock onstage at the 2022 Academy Awards, claiming that Will was "hiding" his true self until that night.
"Will Smith is a tw*t. Will Smith has been hiding the fact of who he really is. And it was exposed that night that he’s really an a**hole," the former cast member of "Saturday Night Live" told Kyle Sandilands and Jackie "O" Henderson on-air on Wednesday morning, June 12.
Describing the incident as "a deep, dark thing to do ... in front of all those people and to a really great legendary comedian, who's literally the best comedian of our generation," he praised his fellow comedian, "You wouldn't have this whole wave of comedy that came after if it wasn't for Chris Rock. He's kicked open the doors."
Rob, however, was in a "sticky" situation following the incident as he was "an elected official of the union" at the time, so he could not speak freely then. "But I wasn't allowed to say anything at that time because we were part of the committee that's supposed to punish him," he explained.
Not mincing his words, Rob criticized The Academy for taking two weeks before it announced a year-ban from the Oscars on Will. If it were up to him, he said Will would have been reprimanded the moment he slapped Chris onstage for making a joke about Will's wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
"Will is a douchebag. The thing is that's how politically correct the Academy is. That they were so cowardly. Because if I would have done that, they would have been hauled off to prison," he continued. "But because they were so worried about being racist or whatever, they were like, 'We can't be, you know, we can't offend.' But the point is, violence is what it is. And whether the color of your skin or your religion, it doesn't matter if you commit a crime in front of other people, you get hauled out of there."
Rob also recalled being out of the country when the drama unfolded, as he was directing the Spanish-language comedy "Live Is Love". "I was in a car and my assistant director, she looked at me and she said, 'Huh.' I said, 'What happened?' and she said, 'Chris Rock just got slapped by Will Smith.' I said to get out of here. It didn't happen. I make the phone calls and it did happen," he recounted.
Of how his friend Chris dealt with the aftermath of the incident, Rob said, "[Chris] didn't want to talk to anybody. I don't blame him. But it took him a while to get to where he could react to it because it was a lot." He added, "And he's a very sensitive, great guy and he's literally a genius. So just trying to figure out the right way at the right timing, it was him because I would have said something. I'm an idiot, I would have ... tried to kick back."
