Rose Rock, the mother of comedian Chris Rock has spoken out about Will Smith slapping her son at the Oscars one month ago.
Speaking to WIS, the author and motivational speaker revealed that Chris was doing well following the shocking incident, but added he was “still processing” the event that shocked the entertainment world.
“I told someone, when Will slapped Chris, he slapped all of us, but he really slapped me,” Rose Rock said. “When you hurt my child, you hurt me.”
Asked what she would say to Smith if given the opportunity, Rock replied, “I have no idea what I would say other than, ‘What in the world were you thinking?’ Because you did a slap, but so many things could have happened.
“Chris could have stepped back and fallen. You really could have gotten taken out in handcuffs. You didn’t think. You reacted to your wife giving you the side-eye, and you went up, and you made her day because she was bowled over laughing when it happened.”
Speaking of SMith’s ban from attending the Oscars for 10 years, Rose said, “What does that mean? You don’t even go every year.”
She also added that she was “really, really proud” of how her son handled the moment the wild moment that was aired on live television for the world to witness.
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Rose added that she felt Smith’s apology posted to his Instagram account on the day after wasn’t good enough.
“I feel really bad that he never apologised,” Rock said. “His people wrote up a piece and said, ‘I apologise to Chris Rock,’ but something like that is personal. You reach out.”
Another member of Chris’ family, his brother Kenny, shared his mother’s sentiment and recently announced he hopes to fight the factory on Celebrity Boxing.
According to TMZ, Kenny has “just signed a deal with Celebrity Boxing founder Damon Feldman for a fight this summer down in Florida,” adding that while he doesn’t have an opponent, he’s calling out the King Richard star.
“Kenny says the size difference wouldn’t be an issue for him … even though Will’s taller and once played Muhammad Ali on the big screen … he’s confident he could score a victory over the Oscar-winner,” the publication read.
In a recent interview with The Los Angeles Times, Kenny discussed how the infamous slap has continued to affect him since it happened.
“It eats at me watching it over and over again because you’ve seen a loved one being attacked and there’s nothing you can do about it,” he said.
He added that he refused to accept Smith’s apology. “I don’t think it was genuine,” he insisted. “I think his publicist and the people that work under him probably advised him to do that.”
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