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In the wake of the now-infamous slapping incident at the Oscars, comedian Chris Rock has kept quiet about the matter. But his brother Tony Rock? Not so much.
Tony Rock, who is also an actor and comedian, takes fan questions via social media each Tuesday. And this week, of course, many of the questions centered on one thing: Will Smith slapping his brother Chris Rock live on television during the Oscars.
And Tony did not mince words, giving a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the altercation and its fallout that differs in some key ways from what has been previously portrayed.
For starters, when asked if he approves of the apology to Chris Rock that Smith posted to Instagram, Tony Rock had a straight-forward, one-word answer, seen below.
Nohttps://twitter.com/PullYourCard/status/1508958970903416834\u00a0\u2026— Tony Rock (@Tony Rock) 1648599223
Tony Rock said simply, "No." Well okay then!
Smith posted the apology to Rock, among others, to his Instagram account on Monday, having apologized to the Academy, his fellow Oscar nominees, and everyone in attendance at the Dolby Theatre during his Best Actor acceptance speech.
But conspicuously absent from Smith's speech was any mention of Rock, apologetic or otherwise. And according to Tony Rock, those who presume Smith has reached out to Chris Rock personally are sadly mistaken.
Asked about any private conversations between Smith and Chris Rock, Tony Rock had a similarly succinct reply: "Waiting..."
Waiting...https://twitter.com/REALDEALCHRIS/status/1508980037676060674\u00a0\u2026— Tony Rock (@Tony Rock) 1648604233
Those who watched the Oscars telecast will of course remember Sean Combs addressing the altercation while presenting an award, and he later told Page Six that Smith and Rock had reconciled, saying, "That's over... They're brothers."
According to Tony Rock, none of that is true. Asked if Diddy was lying when he spoke to Page Six, Tony had another single-word clarification: "Yep."
Yephttps://twitter.com/Breesymone/status/1508969103578513411\u00a0\u2026— Tony Rock (@Tony Rock) 1648601504
Rock's blunt responses to people's questions definitely caught people's attention on Twitter--and seemed to only intensify the various debates about the incident.
The \u201cDuh\u201d of the century\u2026He just wanted to inject himself into the convo like he would inject a cymbal on a Bad Boy track and take a production credit— Regular Timeline Hank (@Regular Timeline Hank) 1648610444
No the time or place for stuff like that! I used to like Will, never cared much for his wife— Gail Pierce (@Gail Pierce) 1648674178
That\u2019s wild on Diddy to insert himself into the mess. How he gon be the speaker of the house with false reporting lol— DatsMyJAM\u2122 \ud83d\udea8\ud83d\udc60 (@DatsMyJAM\u2122 \ud83d\udea8\ud83d\udc60) 1648659220
The person who deserved the Oscar would be Chris Rock for holding himself brushing it off and continuing on with the presentation The other guy doesn't deserve an Oscar and hope they take it back from him it was a harmless joke— Robert Glover (@Robert Glover) 1648664686
The fact that Will\u2019s never done something like this before shows that it must have hurt him with what was said. Would be like someone in the crowd having cancer and they\u2019re skinny, comedian then jokes about them being skinny. If that was my fam I\u2019d be really annoyed.— Lisa Hodges (@Lisa Hodges) 1648635828
Well I am fairly sure that Will and Jada smith are waiting for an apology from Chris over his seriously inappropriate joke at Jada\u2019s expense. As two wrongs do not make a right!— Stephanie turner (@Stephanie turner) 1648677351
Have always been a fan of Chris, since the days of In Living Color. Dude handled himself and the situation with dignity and class. Good joke or not, Smith had no right to physically attack Chris.— KiethBlackLion (@KiethBlackLion) 1648655019
Yes, I think the public apology was a needed one and a very sincere one. That doesn\u2019t mean he shouldn\u2019t personally get together with Chris Rock and discuss what happened or issue a face-to-face apology. I also think you should stay out of it; it\u2019s not about YOU!— Cynthia Jaquith (@Cynthia Jaquith) 1648648959
I agree I wouldn\u2019t except the apology either ! Stand with your brother! That\u2019s also had nothing to do with that joke period! Will have something going on and just took it out on Chris ! He was tooo angry for nothing— Wanda Robertson (@Wanda Robertson) 1648649037
Two wrongs don\u2019t make a right. You don\u2019t make fun of a man\u2019s wife, and also keep your hands to yourself. Amy Schumer being triggered on the other hand? No, her name ain\u2019t been in the news for a while and so was feeling invalidated. She wasn\u2019t triggered, she just wants attention— fairseamadness (@fairseamadness) 1648651054
Chris Rock has yet to address the matter himself. But in the first stop of his new comedy tour in Boston earlier this week, he told the crowd that he is "still processing" what happened and plans to talk about it in his act soon.