Will Smith Throws Shade at Chris Rock in Freestyle That Calls Back to Infamous Oscars Slap

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Will Smith is doubling down on his past actions.

On Sunday, June 22, the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air alum, 56, gave a freestyle performance on DJ Charlie Sloth’s Fire in the Booth series in London. The “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” singer rapped a verse about the moment he walked onstage at the 2022 Oscars and slapped comedian Chris Rock.

“Now, I’m not the type of man to move in malicious ways, and I am too grown to play childish games, but If you talking crazy out your face up on the stage and disrespect me on the stage, expect me on the stage,” rapped Will.

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“Jokers dish it out, cry foul when it’s time to take it / City full of real ones, wasn’t raised to fake it,” he added.

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This isn’t the first time Will has referenced the viral incident via song, as he rapped about it in the track “You Lookin’ for Me?” from his latest album, Based on a True Story in March.

The lyrics read, “Took a lot, I’m back on top, y’all gon’ havе to get acclimated / Won’t stop, my s**t still hot evеn though I won’t get nominated / Personal life with my wife, mind your business, it’s complicated.”

Back in March 2022, during the 94th Academy Awards, 60-year-old Rock made a joke about Will’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, while onstage presenting the award for Best Documentary Feature. The Everybody Hates Chris star called Jada “G.I. Jane II,” alluding to her shaved head. (Jada suffers from alopecia, which causes hair loss.)

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Not amused by the quip, Will walked on stage and slapped the Grown Ups actor across the face.

“Will Smith just smacked the s**t out of me,” a completely caught off guard Rock said.

Will responded, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f**king mouth!”

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Three months later, in July 2022, Will made a public apology to Rock, saying, “My behavior was unacceptable.:

“There is no part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave in that moment,” he continued. “There’s no part of me that thinks that’s the optimal way to handle a feeling of disrespect or insults.”

As for Rock, he poked fun at the incident during his 2023 stand-up show Selective Outrage on Netflix.

“Everybody knows, everybody f**cking knows, yes it happened, I got slapped a year ago — I got smacked at the f**king Oscars by this motherf**ker. And people are like, ‘Did it hurt?’ It still hurts. I’ve got ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ears,” he exclaimed, referencing Will’s 1991 song with DJ Jazzy Jeff.