Ace comedian, Chris Rock, in his first time on stage since the Oscars has noted that he is not quite ready to talk or joke about when Will Smith slapped him during the just ended Oscars Award show, as he noted that he is “still kind of processing what happened”.
According to the comedian, at some point, he would delve more deeply into the incident. However, he wasn’t ready yet.
Rock, dressed in all white, was greeted with two standing ovations before he even began his set, some reports disclosed.“Let me do a show, yo,” he told the cheering crowd. “You got me all misty”.
Chris Rock beginning his set, jokingly asked the audience, “How was your weekend?” before he hinted at the slap and told fans that his performance wouldn’t be focused on it.
“I had a whole show written before this weekend,” Rock said.
Rock’s comments and the first of his back-to-back shows came hours after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said it had begun disciplinary proceedings against Smith.
According to some sources, the crowd at The Wilbur, which had a distinctive comedy club atmosphere on the bottom and a traditional theater vibe on the mezzanine floor, roared at Rock’s jokes. Covering everything from Covid and politics to his daughters, Lola and Zahra, the set seemed like a return to form for Rock.
Chris Rock Pokes Fun at Celebrities and Politicians
Though he never touched on the Smith confrontation at the Academy Awards, he spent much of the night poking fun at celebrities and politicians. Among them was the Duchess of Sussex, the Kardashians, as well as President Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and former President Donald Trump.
Members of the audience shouted their support for the comedian. According to reports, at least one person yelled that Rock should sue Smith. Outside the venue, a fan showed off a T-shirt featuring the ‘G.I. Jane’ logo and Pinkett Smith’s face. Another had a shirt he made that showed Smith’s face and displayed a crude joke about the couple’s relationship.
However, per reports, a heckler stopped the show twice. At one point, a person who appeared to be a member of security stepped onto the stage behind Rock. It’s unclear if the heckler was removed, but as the person shouted, Rock commented, “Is this going to be the tour now?”
Frustrated crowd members, some of whom disclosed they paid between $1,000 and $2,300 for their seats after the Oscars shouted for the heckler to be quiet.
Meanwhile, some comedians have expressed fears that crowds could become more hostile since the incident at the Oscars.
“Let me tell you something, it’s a very bad practice to walk up on stage and physically assault a comedian,” Kathy Griffin wrote on Twitter. “Now we all have to worry about who wants to be the next Will Smith in comedy clubs and theaters”.
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