Controversial comedian Dave Chappelle offered up some commentary on the infamous Oscars slap while on stage in Liverpool Thursday night.
Chappelle is on tour with Chris Rock, who was on the receiving end of the slap from Will Smith after making a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, at this year’s Academy Awards.
“A lot of people forget who Will Smith is,” Chappelle said before recapping Smith’s upbringing. “Then 10 minutes before he was about to get the biggest award… he acted like he was back in Philadelphia.”
Smith was awarded best actor for his role as Venus and Serena Williams’ father, Richard, in the film King Richard. But slapping Rock overshadowed his accomplishment, earning him a ten-year ban from Academy events.
The comedian joked that Smith presented a perfect person for three decades before revealing that he’s “just as ugly” as all of us.
“Will did the impression of a perfect person for 30 years, and he ripped his mask off and showed us he was as ugly as the rest of us,” said Chappelle. “Whatever the consequences are… I hope he doesn’t put his mask back on again and lets his real face breathe.”
Chappelle noted that he sees himself in both men.
As for Rock, he only briefly touched on the controversial incident. He told the audience that Smith smacked him over the “nicest joke” he ever told, referring to it as a “bullsh*t joke.”
Rock recently received backlash for a joke he made over declining an offer to host next year’s Oscars. He joked that returning to the event would be like Nicole Brown Simpson “returning to the restaurant” where she left her eyeglasses before she was killed.
The joke caused Simpson’s sister, Tanya Brown, to speak out, calling Rock’s joke “distasteful.”
