Chris Rock laughed off Will Smith’s Oscars’ slap — reportedly joking backstage that he “simply received punched within the face by Muhammad Ali and didn’t get a scratch.”
The 57-year-old funnyman had clearly been shocked when he was socked at Sunday’s present, saying from the stage, “Will Smith simply smacked the s— out of me.”
After attempting to compose himself, he referred to as the smack “the best night time within the historical past of tv” — then made gentle of it once more backstage, according to the Los Angeles Times.
He was overheard making the Ali joke, the paper stated, referring to Smith’s starring function because the legendary late boxer in a 2001 biopic.
Smith’s function as Ali — for which he stated he underwent two years of intensive coaching within the ring to have the ability to appear like the Biggest — quickly grew to become a topic for memes and jokes about Sunday’s shocker.
“So disappointing that Will Smith performed Muhammad Ali however he couldn’t even knock out Chris Rock,” comic Michael Ian Black tweeted.
British TV presenter Bryn Lucas additionally urged that “the largest query from the Oscars” was “how did Will Smith, an actor who skilled as a boxer when he performed the function of Muhammad Ali, not knock out Chris Rock along with his proper hook?!”
A popular meme additionally shared a nonetheless from the slap, saying, “Gonna inform my children this was Muhammad Ali and George Foreman.”
Smith’s “Finest Smacktor” second additionally drew the eye of among the greatest names within the combat world, together with UFC boss Dana White.
“FINALLY!!!!! there’s an #Oscars present value watching. AND @chrisrock has a chin,” White tweeted admiringly of the comic staying on his ft after the laborious hit.
Rapper Diddy shared an analogous message in a video filmed as he was pushed away from the awards.
“My n–a Chris Rock received a chin, tho … he received a chin,” he stated, dismissing the “loopy” night time as “s–t occurs typically.”
Rock has not filed a police report, the LAPD stated, whereas the Academy stated it “doesn’t condone violence.”
