Chris Rock declines to host next year's Academy Award ceremony following Oscars 'slapgate' incident

Comedian Chris Rock has reportedly declined the offer to host the Academy Award ceremony in 2023 after this year’s Oscars ‘slapgate’. According to a report from the Arizona Republic, Chris revealed that he will not be hosting the event during his Sunday night show at the Arizona Financial Theatre in downtown Phoenix.

According to Arizona Republic, referencing the murder trial of O.J. Simpson, Chris said that going back to Oscars would be like returning to a crime scene. The comedian believed it would be like asking the late Nicole Brown Simpson ‘to go back to the restaurant’ the place where her mother had left a pair of glasses the night of her death.

When a fan yelled and asked him to talk about the incident, Rock continued, referencing Smith’s Oscar winning performance as boxer Muhammed Ali in the 2001 film ‘Ali’, and said ‘He’s bigger than me. The state of Nevada would not sanction a fight between me and Will Smith.

Actor Will Smith had slapped Chris Rock because the latter had made a joke on his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head. Chris was not aware of Jada’s medical condition called alopecia areata which leads to acute hair loss. After the incident, Will issued an apology to Chris Rock and Academy on his social media handle. ‘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,’ he wrote. Recently, he shared another apology video for Chris.

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