Inside Chris Rock and Jada Pinkett Smith’s feud after 26-year friendship was left in tatters following THAT slap – as comic mocks her affair in controversial new Netflix show filmed in the city of her birth
Chris Rock still remembers the infamous slap incident from the 2022 Academy Awards, where Will Smith publicly called him out for making fun of his wife’s alopecia.
While Smith apologized and withdrew from the public eye, Rock has used the incident as material for his new Netflix series, which features jokes targeting Smith and his family.
Fighting between Inside Chris Rock and Jada Pinkett
It draws further attention to the widening chasm between an evidently bitter Rock, Smith and the actor’s wife, the comedian’s apparent rejection of Smith’s olive branch, and the end of what was a solid 26-year friendship.
Appearing live from the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore – ironically the city of Pinkett Smith’s birth – Rock said he had been watching slavery drama Emancipation to see Smith “get whooped,” cheering “hit him again” and “you missed a spot.”
Rock unleashed a year of pent-up rage after being slapped across the face by Smith in the new stand-up comedy special, Chris Rock: Selective Outrage.
The comic claimed that anybody who really knew about the circumstances surrounding the slap knew that it wasn’t actually about him — as he accused Smit of ‘selective outrage,’ lashing out because his wife had an affair.
He even mentioned that Pinkett Smith only confessed to having an affair while interviewing her husband and noted: ‘His wife was her son’s friend.’
‘You all know what happened to me, getting slapped by Suge Smith. Everybody knows, everybody knows,’ he began.
‘I got smacked at the Oscars by this mother. And people are like “Did it hurt?” It still hurts. I got Summertime ringing in my eardrums.
‘But I’m not a victim, you will never see me on Oprah or Gayle crying you will never see it, like, “I couldn’t believe it and I love Men in Black.” No, it’s never going to happen.
I took that hit like Pacquiao mother,’ Rock said, referring to Manny Pacquiao, a professional boxer.
He noted that ‘Will Smith is significantly bigger than me. We are not the same size.
‘Will Smith does most of his movies with his shirt off. You’ve never seen me do a movie with my shirt off. If I’m in a movie getting open heart surgery, I’m in a sweater,’ Rock joked.
‘Will Smith played Mohammed Ali in a movie, you think I auditioned for that part? He played Mohammed Ali, I played Pookie in New Jack City. I played a piece of corn in Pootie Tang. even in animation this mother bigger: I’m a zebra, he’s a shark.
‘But Will Smith practices selective outrage because everyone that knows what happened, everybody that really knows, knows I had nothing to do with that,I didn’t have any entanglements.
‘His wife was her son’s friend.’
Inside Chris Rock and Jada Pinkett Smith’s feud after 26-year friendship
Now I normally wouldn’t talk about this,’ Rock said. ‘But for some reason, these put that shit on the Internet. I have no idea why two talented people would do something that lows down. What the.
‘We’ve all been cheated on, everybody in here has been cheated on. None of us have been interviewed by the person that cheated on us on television, like “Hey I was sucking somebody else’s, how did that make you feel?”
Why would you do that?’ he asked, referring to a sit-down interview Pinkett Smith gave her husband in 2020.
‘She hurt him way more than he hurt me, OK,’ Rock insisted, noting that following the slap: ‘Everybody in the world called him
‘I tried to call the mother and give him my condolences. He wouldn’t pick up for me.
‘Everybody called him the comedian continued. ‘And who is he hitting? Me a her knows h can be beat. That is some That I what the f*** happened, OK. I didn’t do nothing to this mother
‘Years ago, his wife said I should quit the Oscars,’ Rock recounted, referring to 2016, when Jada was going to boycott the awards ceremony as part of the #OscarsSoWhite protests.
‘I shouldn’t host because her man did not get nominated for [Concussion], the biggest piece of ever. She starts it, I finished it.
‘Nobody’s picking on this – she started it. Nobody was picking on her. And then this gives me a concussion, OK. What the man?’
‘I love Will Smith, my whole life I loved this man – I watched him open for Run DMC at the Nassau Coliseum.
I have rooted for Will Smith my whole life and now I watch Emancipation just to see him get whooped. Got me rooting for Masa.
‘A lot of people are like “Chris why didn’t you do nothing back?” Because I got parents that’s why, because I was raised,’ he concluded.
‘And you know what my parents taught me? Don’t fight in front of white people.’
It is always difficult to hear about long-time friendships coming to an end, especially when they involve well-known figures like Chris Rock and Jada Pinkett Smith. While the details of their feud have not been fully disclosed, it is clear that there were significant issues that led to the breakdown of their 26-year friendship.
Friendships can be challenging to maintain, especially when both parties are in the public eye and facing constant scrutiny. It is possible that the pressures of fame, combined with personal differences, contributed to the conflict between Rock and Smith.
Despite the unfortunate end to their friendship, it is important to remember the positive impact that Rock and Smith have had on their respective industries. Both have been trailblazers in entertainment, paving the way for future generations of performers and creators.
Ultimately, it is up to Rock and Smith to work through their issues and determine whether their friendship can be salvaged. While it is always difficult to repair a broken relationship, it is never too late to try and reconcile with someone who has played an important role in your life.