Chris Rock Addresses Will Smith Oscars Slap for First Time at Standup Show

By Charlie Ridgely

The Internet went into a frenzy during the 94th Academy Awards on Sunday night after Will Smith marched onto the stage and slapped Chris Rock in the face over a joke directed at Jada Pinkett Smith. There has been nothing but debate about Smith's actions online since it happened, but the people involved have stayed rather quiet. Smith issued a public apology to Rock on Monday. At a standup show in Boston on Wednesday night, Rock broke his silence on the matter.

"How was your weekend?" Rock asked the crowd at his show. "I don't have a bunch of shit about what happened, so if you came to hear that, I have a whole show I wrote before this weekend. I'm still kind of processing what happened. So at some point I'll talk about that shit. And it will be serious and funny."

The "slap heard 'round the world" has been at the forefront of every conversation all week, and it sounds like the topic will continue to be discussed for quite a while. The Academy announced on Wednesday that it is launching an investigation into the incident and it will take a few weeks to determine how it will handle the situation moving forward.

Rock hasn't said anything about the event publicly prior to Wednesday night's show, but he did opt not to press charges against Smith on Sunday when he was approached by the LAPD.

"Violence in all of its form is poisonous and destructive," Smith wrote in a social media post on Monday. "My behavior at last night's Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada's medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally."

"I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris," he added. "I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness."

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