Chris Rock has opened up about getting slapped across the face by actor Will Smith onstage at the Academy Awards.
During the Oscar ceremony in Los Angeles in March of last year, Smith took the stage and slapped the face Rockwho pranked the actor’s wife, actress Jada Pinkett Smith, as she was about to present an award.
Rock’s joke referenced the 1997 film GI Jane, in which actress Demi Moore shaved her head.
It’s still unclear whether the comedian was aware that Pinkett Smith had alopecia, an autoimmune condition that causes hair loss, when he made the remark.
Speaking Saturday during the Chris Rock: Selective Outrage special streaming on Netflix, Rock said he “took that blow like (former Filipino boxer) Pacquiao.”
She added: “You know what people say, they always say ‘words hurt’.
“They say.
“You have to be careful what you say.
“Because words hurt, you know.
“Anyone who says words hurt has never been punched in the face.”
Smith has apologized several times for the incident.
