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Comedian Chris Rock has at last broken his silence about the now-infamous incident in which actor Will Smith slapped him on live television at the Oscars on Sunday.
Rock dug into the topic a bit at the first night of his new stand-up comedy tour at Boston's Wilbur Theatre on Wednesday night, where a sold-out crowd greeted him with a standing ovation.
Variety obtained audio from the show, in which Rock briefly discussed the incident.
Hear the audio below.
Chris Rock just addressed the Will Smith #Oscars slap for the first time during a sold-out stand-up show in Boston. https://bit.ly/38fsMJU\u00a0\n\nListen to the audio pic.twitter.com/TuqE8AHs6C— Variety (@Variety) 1648686523
Taking the stage at the Wilbur amid thunderous applause, Rock opened his set by casually quipping:
"How was your weekend?"
Rock then told his crowd that he is "still processing" the events of Sunday night.
“I don’t have a bunch of sh*t to say about that. I had written a whole show before this weekend."
"I’m still processing what happened, so at some point, I’ll talk about that sh*t. It’ll be serious. It’ll be funny, but right now, I’m going to tell some jokes.”
Rock then launched into his previously rehearsed set for his Ego Death Tour, leaving the topic behind.
But the comments were nonetheless significant given his complete silence since the event--and especially amid the wave of new information that has come out in recent days about what went down at the Dolby Theatre.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, which administers the Oscars, said Wednesday that Smith was asked to leave the ceremony immediately after the incident but he refused, going on to win the Best Actor statuette shortly thereafter.
And today Oscars producer Will Packer revealed that the Los Angeles Police Department came to the Dolby Theatre Sunday night prepared to arrest Smith for battery, but left when Rock repeatedly refused to press charges.
On Twitter, Rock's comments in Boston definitely raised intrigue, but seemed to only intensify the ongoing debate about the incident.
If he was, then he should be apologising to Jada— Werner The Herzog (@Werner The Herzog) 1648691055
What is he processing still? He talked crap about Jada. Will slapped and then apologised twice, it\u2019s time to move on— OVO \ud83e\udd89Lemon (@OVO \ud83e\udd89Lemon) 1648686741
I love Chris Rock. Always have and always will . He\u2019s to be commended for keeping his composure after this bullshit ass fiasco. Jadas been bald as far back as I can remember, PRE alopecia! She\u2019s been known to wear short (damn near bald) hair styles for the longest. IDGAF— Gail L. Williams (@Gail L. Williams) 1648689281
I mean it\u2019s not like his wife is a rando, his wife is an actor/artist. He was going after a celeb like they always do not targeting someone\u2019s wife— Frank C (@Frank C) 1648689585
He's not gonna apologize team Will and Jada folks.\n\nHe's in the drivers seat and gonna milk this for a while.\n\nWill is in a entanglement with the Academy and that's Good enough for Chris.\n\nNow let's talk about seven hours of missing trump logs. https://twitter.com/Variety/status/1509326791478968322\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/HU6VGwa7Pa— NewDemocrat4Life (@NewDemocrat4Life) 1648687182
kind of incredible that one of the most famous stand up comedians of all time is gonna have to spend a little bit of time now as just "the guy who got slapped by will smith at the oscars"https://twitter.com/Variety/status/1509326791478968322\u00a0\u2026— bort (@bort) 1648748232
Sounds like the right crowd for the moment, hope you have a great show @chrisrock ! #chrisrockshttps://twitter.com/Variety/status/1509326791478968322\u00a0\u2026— Tiffany Davidson (@Tiffany Davidson) 1648687467
In the end, he did come out tops from this incident by not coming to blows onstage and not speaking about it till he is ready.https://twitter.com/Variety/status/1509326791478968322\u00a0\u2026— \u2665\ufe0fChewy\u2764\ufe0f (@\u2665\ufe0fChewy\u2764\ufe0f) 1648688881
For the people out there that think Will Smith was wrong you should go back and watch the video\n\nTake a good long look at Jade\nShe was not smiling or laughing\nShe was almost in tears\nAt least she knows her husband loves her\n\nChris Rock owes her an apology— Kack \ud83e\udd8b\ud83e\udd8b\ud83e\udd8b\ud83e\udd8b\ud83e\udd8b (@Kack \ud83e\udd8b\ud83e\udd8b\ud83e\udd8b\ud83e\udd8b\ud83e\udd8b) 1648691663
He sounds stunned himself and I\u2019m sure he was unprepared for that act of violence in that setting hod bless him he was brave— Savannah (@Savannah) 1648701886
The Academy has since launched an internal review of Smith's conduct on Sunday night. It is expected to take several weeks.