Chris Rock‘s mother is speaking out on the slap her son received from Will Smith during the 94th Oscars ceremony.
In an exclusive interview with South Carolina’s WIS News, Rose Rock shared her thoughts on the situation, speaking publicly on the matter for the very first time.
Rose Rock revealed that, like others, she thought Will’s slap was a staged stunt until “[Will] started using obscenities.” Smith shocked audience members and viewers on March 27, when he walked on stage and slapped Chris Rock who was presenting the Academy Award for Best Documentary over a joke at Jada Pinkett-Smith‘s expense.
“You reacted to your wife giving you the side-eye and you went and made her day because she was mulled over laughing when it happened,” Rose Rock said. When Will returned to his seat, he yelled back at Chris, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f––king mouth.”
“When he slapped Chris, he slapped all of us,” Rose Rock told WIS’ Billie Jean Shaw. “He really slapped me.”
Rose Rock said that her son was excited to give Questlove the Oscar for his award-winning documentary, Summer of Soul, but that Will’s actions ruined the moment.
“No one even heard his speech. No one was able to just be in the moment because everyone was sitting there like, ‘what just happened?’” she said.
Rose Rock added that she reached out to her son shortly after the incident and told him she was proud of how he reacted. She later added that she was concerned about what could have happened, like the possibility that Chris fell back or that Will could have been taken away in handcuffs.
Earlier the month, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences banned Will from any and all of its events for the next 10 years. Will also stepped down from the Academy and apologized twice for his actions at the awards show.
