Chris Rock addresses the Oscar moment when he got slapped by Will Smith for the first time. He has been silent since the incident went viral.
He was greeted by the audience at Boston’s Wilbur Theater with two back-to-back standing ovations, lasting several minutes.
“Let me be all misty and s***,” Rock said with tears in his eyes, gesturing to the crowd’s warm response.
“How was your weekend?” he quipped, to which the audience responded with laughter.
“I don’t have a bunch of s*** about what happened, so if you came to hear that, I had like a whole show I wrote before this weekend. And I’m still kind of processing what happened, so at some point, I’ll talk about that s***. And it’ll be serious and it’ll be funny, but right now I’m going to tell some jokes.”
Then, seemingly in reference to whether he’s spoken with Smith since the weekend’s events, Rock said, “I haven’t talked to anyone, despite what you heard.”
Rock’s performances come as the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announced ‘disciplinary proceedings’ against Smith have been initiated over his actions at Sunday’s Oscars.
Smith issued an apology on Monday in a statement on Instagram, calling his behavior “unacceptable and inexcusable.”
“I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness,” Smith wrote.
In their statement Wednesday, the Academy said that Smith was asked to leave the ceremony after the altercation “and refused.” The Academy said it recognizes “we could have handled the situation differently.”