Chris Rock sought counselling after Will Smith slap, says pal Leslie Jones

18 September 2023 , 22:22

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Chris Rock sought counselling after Will Smith slap, says pal Leslie Jones

Chris Rock sought counselling after the "humiliating" incident in which he was 'slapped' by Will Smith at the Oscars last year, his pal Leslie Jones has suggested.

Will, now 54, confronted comedian Chris, now 58, during the live broadcast of the awards ceremony back in March last year, whilst the latter was presenting an accolade. The actor was seen heading onto the stage and 'slapping' Chris.

It came following a joke about Will's wife Jada Pinkett Smith, now 52. Chris had suggested she looked like G.I. Jane - seemingly in reference to her shaved head, which she's previously said was related to hair loss due to alopecia.

Leslie Jones (pictured) spoke about her pal Chris Rock in a recent interview, including discussing him being 'slapped' by Will Smith last year (WireImage)

The incident made international headlines at the time and Will later issued an apology, saying at one point: "I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed." The actor was also banned from attending the Oscars for ten years.

Chris' pal and fellow comedian Leslie, 56, has now shared her thoughts on what happened in a new interview. She spoke to People magazine recently ahead of her upcoming memoir Leslie F*cking Jones being released later this week.

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The former Saturday Night Live cast member said she had been "mad" over the incident for a while after it happened. Leslie - who described Chris as like a "brother" - suggested that Will could have handled the situation differently.

Chris, pictured in 2020, had been on stage during the Oscars last year when the incident happened (Getty Images)

It came following a joke about Will's wife Jada Pinkett Smith (right) in the awards ceremony (Getty Images)

She said Will could have "still fixed it" later in the ceremony. Following the incident, he returned to the stage at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles when he was announced as the winner of the Best Actor award for King Richard (2021).

She suggested that Will should have invited Chris onto the stage during his acceptance speech. Leslie suggested he could have declined the award because of his behaviour, saying he could have acknowledged it was "f***ing wrong".

During the interview, Leslie told the outlet that the incident "really affected" her pal Chris. She said: "That s*** was humiliating." She said people "need to understand" that his family, including his daughters and his parents, saw it. Leslie added: "He had to go to counselling with his daughters."

Leslie however suggested that Chris' stand-up special Selective Outrage, which was released on Netflix earlier this year, may have been an outlet for him. She teased that instead of "going crazy," comedians talk about things on stage. She added: "Thank God we've got the stage."

Joel Leaver