For better or worse, comedian Chris Rock is likely the most famous Oscars host of all time after the slapping incident between him and Will Smith at this year's ceremony.
But if you're eager to see Rock host the ceremony again, don't hold your breath.
Rock says he has no interest, despite being asked to return in 2023 by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
During a stand-up set in Phoenix, Arizona, Rock likened returning to the Oscars to returning to the scene of a crime, using an analogy about OJ Simpson's ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson's murder that was equal parts evocative and shocking.
\u201cChris Rock says he turned down hosting the Oscars next year, saying going back to the awards ceremony would be like asking Nicole Brown Simpson \u201cto go back to the restaurant\u201d where she left her eyeglasses before being killed \n\nhttps://t.co/ZjIPuhYePO\u201d— philip lewis (@philip lewis) 1661807507
Rock reportedly told the crowd asking him to host the Oscars would be like asking Brown Simpson "to go back to the restaurant," a reference to the Mezzaluna restaurant in Los Angeles where Brown Simpson was last seen before she was murdered.
A waiter from the restaurant, Ron Goldman, was also murdered at her home that night after going there to return eyeglasses Brown Simpson's mother had left on their table during dinner earlier that evening.
Seemingly disinterested in capitalizing on the incident between him and Smith, Rock also revealed in his set he was offered a Super Bowl commercial, which he also declined.
Rock did open up a bit about the now infamous incident, in which Smith slapped Rock on live television during the Oscars after Rock made a joke about Smith's wife Jada Pinkett Smith's hair loss.
He told the crowd the slap hurt, noting Smith had played champion boxer Muhammad Ali in 2001's Ali.
Rock quipped:
“He’s bigger than me. The state of Nevada would not sanction a fight between me and Will Smith.”
Given the nonstop media circus that ensued after the slap, it's easy to understand why Rock isn't eager to take the Oscars stage again.
But his joke about Nicole Brown Simpson did not go over well with many on social media.
\u201cNot for nothing, that joke is an example of why he was low (high) key overdue to get slapped.\u201d— Naima Cochrane (@Naima Cochrane) 1661812031
\u201cNicole Simpson jokes were never funny and when i watched the series and read reports that she was stabbed so badly that parts of her body almost came off . Her family can see that BS chris rock said . Will need to wind his wrist up again\u201d— G Herbo\u2019s groove (@G Herbo\u2019s groove) 1661869118
\u201c@Phil_Lewis_ Chris Rock\u2019s cringy Nicole Brown Simpson joke makes me feel like Will Smith needs to be un-disinvited to the Oscars and issued an abject apology.\n\nUpon review, it was a good slap.\u201d— philip lewis (@philip lewis) 1661807507
\u201cChris Rock could\u2019ve made this statement without using Nicole Brown Simpson name \ud83d\ude44\u201d— July 19 (@July 19) 1661815749
\u201cSomebody actually needs to slap Chris Rock now. Maybe Fred Goldman should have the honor. Comparing what happened to him to what happened to Nicole Brown Simpson is truly tasteless and not at all funny\u201d— Gregory Anderson (@Gregory Anderson) 1661815020
\u201cI don't support violence but after seeing Chris Rock comparing himself to Nicole Simpson who was brutally murdered by her psycho ex husband he can really go f*ck himself. Also saw him justifying what OJ did to her in standup. Zero sympathy for that dumbass \ud83e\udd2c\u201d— Louise P. (@Louise P.) 1661866850
\u201ca crime scene....over a slap...and your mom is a black woman- bffr Chris\u201d— ditzycumcurmudgeon (@ditzycumcurmudgeon) 1661823615
Others felt the uproar over his Simpson joke spoke to a double standard given many who defended Rock in the wake of the Oscars slap defended his mocking of Pinkett Smith.
\u201cI'm laughing because it was just jokes when Chris Rock was making fun of Jada's alopecia. Now he's comparing that slap he earned to Nicole Brown Simpson being viciously murdered. Is it still just jokes or nah?\ud83d\ude44\u201d— Taylor's Hands (@Taylor's Hands) 1661818774
\u201cOh Chris Rock said something about Nicole Brown Simpson? Yeah I\u2019m real interested if the same folks \u201ctraumatized\u201d by his slap gonna come for him. Remember, it\u2019s just a joke.\u201d— Sons of Killmonger & Disciple of Dark Brandon (@Sons of Killmonger & Disciple of Dark Brandon) 1661814968
\u201cI can\u2019t wait to see how the white women and feminists who defended Chris Rock react to this. \ud83d\ude42 Are you still triggered by the slap or nah?\n\nhttps://t.co/NVCXo3EmWZ\u201d— Ola Ojewumi (@Ola Ojewumi) 1661825408
The slapping incident may have been unfortunate, but it seems to have been a boon to the Oscars and the network that airs the ceremony, ABC.
The network's President of Entertainment Craig Erwich told Deadline in May the telecast "came back in a big way" this year after years of declining viewership.
