'Emotional' Chris Rock 'can’t imagine forgiving' Will Smith after Oscars slap, claims insider
Will Smith slapping Chris Rock during the 94th Academy Award is something everyone can't seem to forget. Just like the rest of us, the incident is still quite fresh in Rock's mind. Despite an apology by Smith, reports claim that the comedian doesn’t think he will ever be able to accept the apology.
"He can’t imagine forgiving Will and being friends with him. It is just a very weird thing to fully envelope," an insider told HollywoodLife. Rock also knows that the Oscar slap is not something people are going to forget about anytime soon. The insider added, "Chris Rock doesn’t want the Will Smith slap to define him and the rest of his career. It sucks that it is now part of his life forever."
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During the 2022 Oscars, Smith slapped Rock after the latter made a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett, comparing her to GI Jane due to her shaved head which she shaved as she suffered from alopecia, an auto-immune disease that causes hair loss. But after the incident, it was reported that Rock didn’t know about her condition. And the physical violence shown by Smith onstage during Hollywood's greatest night has become quite a controversy and left a scarring impact on Rock.
Since the slap, ticket sales to Rock’s comedy show have skyrocketed, with many audiences expecting him to address the slap, however, he is not ready to go there yet. The slap was quite humiliating and emotional for him. An insider further told HollywoodLife, "He doesn’t know when he will talk about it. He knows he will have to at some point, but he is literally focusing on his tour and waiting for the dust to fully settle. It is still raw, emotional, and confusing to deal with and wrap his head around. "
After the incident, Smith has apologized to the Academy and posted an apology on Instagram directed at Rock. He also resigned from the Academy just after they launched a review of the incident. But, one thing is for sure, both Smith and Rock look like they are trying to move on from the incident. The insider shared that "the most important thing right now is that Chris is looking to move forward positively and not harp on it more than he needs."
The insider also added, "Once Chris is ready to address the issue, he wants to articulate everything in a very professional manner because the way the situation was brought on him was as far from that as possible." Rock will likely address the situation at some point, as will the Academy. The president of the Academy also announced that they will continue the investigation into the incident even after Smith's resignation.