by Don’t expect Chris Rock and Will Smith to slug it out anytime soon.
After Smith broke his silence on the Oscar slam in a video on Friday — apologizing to Rock and saying he’s “here when you’re ready to talk” — the feedback seems to be that Smith shouldn’t hold his breath.
“Chris has no plans to reach out to Will,” a source said Entertainment tonight on Monday. The insider went on to question the timing of Smith’s video, suggesting it was more to help himself, adding: “He needs the public’s forgiveness, not Chris.”
ONE Human beings magazine source had a similar party line, saying, “Chris doesn’t need to talk. This is clearly something that bothers Will more than Chris. Will needs to deal with his issues. Chris is fine.”
Another person told the outlet, “The fact that [Rock] making jokes about it is already a good thing. It means he is considering it. But the stress of the bang and the aftermath has not taken over his life. Quite the opposite.”
It’s true – Rock has referred to the March 27 incident in his Ego Death World Tour, which started on the heels of the Oscars. In May, he made remarks about getting his “hearing back” after being “struck in the face”. This past weekend, while performing in Atlanta, Rock referenced King Richard actor as “Suge Smith”. Marion “Suge” Knight, founder of Death Row Records, has a long history of violence – is currently incarcerated.
Since these rock sources have been whispering to the entertainment news outlet, Smith sources have also made it clear that the video was not just a publicity stunt.
“There was no rhyme or reason to it other than time had passed, the work had been done, the same questions had bubbled up and also people really wanted to hear from him,” an insider said. Human beings. “It was just a general feeling that it’s time and he’s in a place where he had more things he wanted to say.”
The person said Smith is “deeply remorseful, he’s still doing a lot of work, and he’s also human and made a mistake. He’s going to move forward with the same positivity he’s always had.”
Meanwhile Us Weekly suggested that Jada Pinkett Smith was a driving force behind the video. She was, of course, the target of Rock’s GI Jane joke on Oscar night, prompting Smith to storm the stage to punch and curse out an unsuspecting rocker who allegedly didn’t know she had alopecia.
Smith “would never” apologize publicly, the outlet claimed, but Pinkett Smith has been “pushing Will to apologize because it’s become this really dark cloud over her Red Table Talk series” due to people looking for “any mention of that moment” on her show. Smith’s team “hoped the controversy would die down, but it just hasn’t” and it had become “impossible for him to move on with success unless he [addressed it]”, the insider claimed.
Representatives for Rock and Smith have not responded to Yahoo Entertainment’s request for comment.
On Friday, Smith dropped the video, answering what he said were fan questions about the incident. In it, he told Rock, “My behavior was unacceptable and I’m here when you’re ready to talk.” He also denied that Pinkett Smith encouraged the bang. “I made a choice on my own from my own experiences, from my history with Chris,” he said. “Sure had nothing to do with it.”
Smith awkwardly won Best Actor shortly after the outburst on Oscar night, and did not apologize to Rock in his speech. He then went out to the Oscar parties and celebrated his win. He said on Friday that after the bang he was “foggy” and the rest of the night was a “blur”.
The day after the slam, Smith posted an apology on Instagram, saying he was “out of line” for punching Rock, but said the joke about “Jada’s medical condition” upset him. Amid an investigation into the events of that night, Smith resigned from the academy days later, releasing another statement calling his behavior “inexcusable.” A week later, the organization banned him from the Oscars and other events for 10 years.
