The comedian’s first show since the incident garnered great attention as people speculated how he would address the slap that rocked Hollywood.
However, Rock revealed he is “still processing” the incident and did not divulge how he is feeling about it.
“How was YOUR weekend?” Rock asked the sold-out crowd at Boston’s Wilbur Theatre but made it clear that the slap would not be on the night’s agenda.
“I had written a whole show before this weekend. I’m still processing what happened, so at some point I’ll talk about that s***,” Rock said at the show in Massachusetts, on Wednesday night.
Rock said when he does decide to discuss the situation, it will be funny but also serious.
“It’ll be serious. It’ll be funny, but right now I’m going to tell some jokes,” Rock said.
Reuters reports that the crowd gave Rock a standing ovation during the show.
“Let me be all misty and s***,” a reportedly teary-eyed Rock said. “I don’t have a bunch of s***to say about that, so if you came here for that…” he paused before adding: “I had written a whole show before this weekend.”
At Sunday’s Academy Awards, Rock made a joke about Will Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith while presenting a category on stage.
Moments later, Pinkett Smith’s husband, seemingly outraged about the quip about his wife’s shaved head, stormed the stage and slapped Rock before returning to his seat and shouting: “Keep my wife’s name out your f****** mouth!”
Viewers are still reeling from the incident which has sparked a chain reaction in Hollywood that has seen a number of celebrities air their views on what happened and then receive backlash on social media themselves.
One celebrity facing backlash for criticizing Smith’s actions is Jim Carrey, who is himself facing condemnation for his conduct at the MTV Awards in 1997 when he planted an unwanted kiss on actress Alicia Silverstone.
Meanwhile, The Batman star Zoe Kravitz received swift and fierce criticism when she spoke out against Smith on Instagram, with fans resurfacing a clip of her calling a 16-year-old Jaden Smith the “love of her life.”
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has said that the situation is still being processed and it will be a few weeks before it reaches a conclusion as questions remain about whether Smith will be stripped of his Best Actor Oscar.
Smith has since apologized to Rock for the altercation, writing on social media: “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.”
