The infamous Slap Gate has become the highlight of the 2022 Academy Awards after Will Smith slapped the host of the ceremony, Chris Rock, on stage. The comedian’s joke about the Focus star’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, was not very well received by him. Followed by multiple apologies from the actor, the 58-year-old comedian finally addressed The Slap during his Netflix special, as he shaded the star couple in his standup.
However, even before the 2022 Oscars or his Netflix special Selective Outrage, the Grown Ups actor has taken shots at the Smith couple. During his 2016 Oscars monologue, the comedian shaded Jada Pinkett Smith and her husband for boycotting the Academy Awards.
Read More: Will Smith Returns: Working Hard on Bad Boys 4 Set to Get Out of Chris Rock Oscars Slap Shadow
Chris Rock Insulted Jada Pinkett Smith at the 2016 Oscars
The 2016 Oscars were surrounded by controversy for the lack of diversity among the Oscars nominees, leading to a backlash on social media. Hashtags like #OscarsSoWhite started trending, and people started asking for a boycott of the award ceremony. Many Hollywood celebrities and stars also shared their support for the boycott, including Will Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
Chris Rock, who was set to host the 88th Academy Awards was reportedly adamant to address the issue in his opening monologue. And he did as he targeted the Hitch star and his wife in the opening monologue for boycotting the Oscars. He said,
“Jada said she’s not coming. I was like, ‘Isn’t she on a TV show?’ Jada’s gonna boycott the Oscars? Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna’s panties. I wasn’t invited!”
The comedian joked that the actress was not even invited to the ceremony, so it makes no sense for her to boycott it. After the 2022 Oscars incident, the comedian’s clip insulting the Set It Off actress started circulating on the internet, as people defended the Bad Boys star for taking a stand for his wife after Rock made a joke about his wife’s alopecia.
Jada Pinkett Smith Responded to Chris Rock’s Joke on Her
After Chris Rock’s dig at Jada Pinkett Smith, the 51-year-old actress responded to his jokes as she said that there are a lot of things happening in the world and she prefers moving on. “Hey, look, it comes with the territory, but we gotta keep it moving,” she said when asked about the jokes.
The Scream 2 actress did not seem bothered by the comedian’s joke as she further said, “There’s a lot of stuff we gotta handle, a lot of stuff in our world right now. We gotta keep it moving.” Rock also shaded Will Smith in his monologue at the 2016 Oscars saying that Pinkett Smith was mad because her husband did not receive a nomination for work his in Concussion.
He also said, “It’s also not fair that Will was paid $20 million for Wild Wild West!” The Men in Black star did not say anything at the time. However, after the 2022 Oscars incident, insiders claimed that Smith was “still mad” about the Spiral star’s comments he made about him and his wife at the 88th Academy Awards.
Source: Oscars
