X

Chris Rock Isn't Talking About Will Smith's Oscars Slap Until He Gets Paid

Chris Rock says he has a whole show in the works.

Mark Serrels Editorial Director
Mark Serrels is an award-winning Senior Editorial Director focused on all things culture. He covers TV, movies, anime, video games and whatever weird things are happening on the internet. He especially likes to write about the hardships of being a parent in the age of memes, Minecraft and Fortnite. Definitely don't follow him on Twitter.
See full bio
Mark Serrels
Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars

We've heard very little from Chris Rock since he was slapped by Will Smith at the Oscars.

 Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

Here's what's happened since Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars last month: Will Smith has apologized, he got banned from the Oscars for 10 years and Jada Pinkett Smith declared "a season for healing." Online, meanwhile, it's been a season for hot takes as everyone, from comedians to actors to regular people on Twitter, has unleashed a tsunami of commentary on the the slap heard around the world. (Daniel Radcliffe had the best one.)

The one thing we haven't heard: a definitive response from Rock about the whole situation. Since the Oscars he's been mostly quiet about the incident. Turns out he has good reason.

"I'm not talking about that until I get paid," Rock reportedly said during a comedy show in Palm Springs over the weekend. According to a report from the Desert Sun, Rock has "a whole show" planned around the incident.

And that makes complete sense, from a number of perspectives. Not least the impact Will Smith's slap had on comedians around the country. Many, from Joe Rogan to Jim Carrey to Bill Maher, have gone after Will Smith for what they see as an assault on the art of comedy itself. For Rock, one of the world's most famous and successful standup comedians, this incident is probably worth a lot more than a single Instagram post.