by Lee Dixon, Orlando Advocate
Comedian Chris Rock has reportedly told the Palm Springs Desert Sun that he will not be talking about the infamous slap heard round the world “until he gets paid.”
“I’m OK, I have a whole show, and I’m not talking about that until I get paid. Life is good. I got my hearing back.” the comedian is reported to have said at his show in Indio, California last Friday.
If you’ve just gotten back to the planet, Chris Rock made a joke aimed at Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head while emceeing the Oscars last month– “Jada, I love you, ‘GI Jane 2,’ can’t wait to see it,” he quipped– and her husband, well-known actor, Will Smith walked on stage and slapped him.
Smith later won the award for best actor and tearingly apologized to the Academy during his acceptance speech but failed to apologize to Rock. Rock got his apology later, in a March 28 statement posted by Smith on Instagram.
“Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear, and I reacted emotionally. I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris,” Smith said.
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences announced its punishment of Smith on Friday, saying the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air would be banned from all Academy events for 10 years. Smith had already resigned from his position on the board.
“I’m still processing what happened,” Rock reportedly said onstage at his ‘Ego Death World Tour.’ “So at some point I’ll talk about that shit. It’ll be serious. It’ll be funny, but right now I’m going to tell some jokes.”
