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Are Will Smith and Chris Rock Friends? Inside Their Rocky Relationship Before Oscars Feud
The 2022 Oscars weren’t the first time Will Smith and Chris Rock were at odds with one another over Will’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Their tense relationship goes back decades ago, which started when Chrisfirst worked with Will on an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1995. Keep reading to learn everything we know about Will and Chris’ past friendship.
Did Chris Rock Have Issues With Jada Pinkett-Smith?
The comedian and Red Table Talk star have also worked on three Madagascar films in the past, but nevertheless, Chris has been relentless in his shade toward Jada.
Chris didn’t stop there. He went on to joke about Will, saying, “Jada’s mad her man Will was not nominated for Concussion. I get it. It’s also not fair that Will was paid $20 million for Wild Wild West.”
In 2018, when Will made a birthday post on Instagram to his ex-wife Sheree Zampino, the Everybody Hates Chris star didn’t hold back as he commented on the picture. “Wow …,” he wrote. “You have a very understanding wife.”
Why Did Will Smith Slap Chris Rock?
The latest dig Chris took — and what may have been the final straw for Will — was during the March 2022 Oscars, when the Grown Ups actor seemingly made a joke about Jada shaving her head after suffering from alopecia. “Jada, I love you, G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it,” he joked.
The actress has been known to struggle for many years with hair loss and decided last year to shave it all off. Will didn’t seem to think it was funny, taking offense as he stormed the stage coming right for Chris. He looked unapologetic as he slapped him before walking away.
As he sat down, he looked livid as he yelled at Chris, “Leave my wife’s name out of your f—king mouth.” The Pursuit of Happyness star later apologized to the Academy and his “fellow nominees” for his actions while accepting the Best Actor award for his role in King Richard. “This is a beautiful moment, and I’m not crying for winning an award.”
What Did Chris Rock Say About the Slap?
Nearly one year later, Chris addressed the incident by dissing both Will and Jada during his March 2023 comedy special, Chris Rock: Selective Outrage.
“Will Smith practices selective outrage,” the comedian told the audience, per The Hollywood Reporter. “Outrage because everybody knows what the f—k happened. Everybody that really knows, knows that I have nothing to do with that s—t. I didn’t have any entanglements.”
He then took a snipe at Jada to point out the previous affair she had during their marriage.
“His wife was f—king her son’s friend,” Chris continued. “She hurt him way more than he hurt me. Everybody in the world called him a bitch. I tried to call the motherf—ker, I tried to call that man and give him my condolences, he didn’t pick up for me.”
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