Slap Update CCCXLVIII: Chris Rock Isn't a Victim
He's moving on but also not really
Do you sometimes feel uneasy and scared, because things don’t feel right? Same, and it started for me on February 15, 2022, after a certain Will Smith slapped a certain Chris Rock on the very stage on which Jessica Chastain would win a best actress Oscar mere hours later. The world hasn’t moved on, and nearly six months later I feel zero closure. But I can rest easy knowing that Chris Rock was not as rocked by the slap as many of us have feared.
Rock had previously stated he would not talk about The Slap outside of a Netflix special, which is fair I guess — but the clock is ticking. Something crazy might happen before he gets his opportunity, so he’s keeping his options open. In May, for instance, Rock let a London audience know that, “Anyone who says ‘words hurt’ — has never been punched in the face.” I love that.
According to Variety, he repeated the whole “words hurt” bit for a New Jersey audience earlier this week but also added an extra little something else:
I’m not a victim. Yeah, that shit hurt, motherfucker. But I shook that shit off and went to work the next day. I don’t go to the hospital for a paper cut.
Are you breathing a sigh of relief knowing he is not really a victim of anything, because I am. It’s rare we get to see a man be so strong while moving on from something so traumatizing. Mr. Rock, you are a survivor and I salute you.
