Chris Rock on Will Smith Slap: ‘I’m Still Kinda Processing’

Chris Rock broke his silence Wednesday night about The Slap and told fans he’s “still processing.”

Performing in Boston as part of his sold-out “Ego Death Tour,” the comedian took the stage at the Wilbur Theater and was reportedly greeted with “two back-to-back standing ovations, lasting several minutes,” as per CNN. Through tears, he quipped to the crowd, “How was your weekend?” before jumping into what people really wanted to hear.

“I don’t have a bunch of shit to say about that, so if you came here for that,” said the 57-year-old, before taking a beat. “I had written a whole show before this weekend. I’m still processing what happened, so at some point I’ll talk about that shit. It’ll be serious. It’ll be funny, but right now I’m going to tell some jokes.”

Rock’s response has been widely anticipated, and fans clamored to get tickets to this show just to hear what he’d have to say live.

In contrast, Will Smith has been pretty vocal in the wake of the Oscars moment, though one could argue he did have a pretty solid platform: Oscar viewers were treated to Smith’s response in near-real time when he accepted his Best Actor award, just moments after he slapped Rock across the face on stage for insulting his wife. Smith would go on to issue another statement on Instagram this week, offering an apology to the Academy, viewers, and Rock—though Rock’s family says he has yet to apologize to Rock directly.

This latest from Rock arrives amid the Academy announcing, seemingly randomly, that they did ask Smith to leave the ceremony after The Slap. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Academy alleges they asked Smith to leave, and he declined, and then they offered him the award for Best Actor. It’s all quite bizarre, and they admitted that they “could have handled the situation differently.” To sum it up: This entire situation is a hot mess.