It may be a while before the 2023Oscarsceremony happens, but it appears that they already have one potential hosting option eliminated. Chris Rock reportedly admitted that he was asked to host the ceremony for the academy for the third time, to which he declined following the one moment that everyone remembers from this year’s past ceremony.
According to theArizona Republic, Rock recently admitted during a standup routine in Arizona that he declined the offer to host the ceremony again afterWill Smith infamously slapped himfor making a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s hairdo. He even compared it to one of the most infamous murder stories in American history.
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Rock admitted that going to host theOscarswould be like going back to the crime scene. Or in this case, it would be like asking Nicole Brown Simpson “to go back to the restaurant” where she lost her glasses. Rock did not talk much about the slap, but when he did, he said that it really hurt, which is not surprising since Will Smith trained to play Muhammad Ali in the legendary boxer’s biopic back in 2002. “He’s bigger than me,” Rock said. “The state of Nevada would not sanction a fight between me and Will Smith.” Given that it was a standup routine, Rock did not want to talk much about what happened.
Even thoughWill Smith was banned from the Academyfor a decade as punishment for his actions against Rock, and Will Smith has personally apologized to Rock for slapping him, Rock evidently does not want to take the chance of something like that happening again. Even though Rock did not suffer any sort of injury, it clearly came as a shock to him to get slapped after making what he thought was a harmless joke. Comedians get heckled all the time during standup routines over the jokes they make, but Smith chose to be physically violent after Rock mocked Jada Pinkett Smith’s hairstyle.
This could also loom large for potential Oscar hosts going forward. The Academy chooses certain hosts primarily because they want them to entertain both those who are attending the ceremony and those who are watching at home. WhileWill Smith’s slap gave the Oscars the most attentionthey’ve had in quite some time, it was not exactly the type of attention they were seeking. More importantly, other potential hosts may not want to endure the same fate Rock went through when Rock was clearly only trying to make a joke that he thought the Smith family would laugh at.
The Academy clearly likes Rock as a host since they’ve had him do that multiple times and wanted him to do it again, but he clearly did not think it was going to be worth it. Rock’s decision is understandable. He does not want to revisit a place where he had a physical altercation that was broadcast to the entire world. Even if he was okay andmade peace with Will Smith, it makes sense if he doesn’t want to go back to a place where he may get PTSD.
