Chris Rock's Mother Rose Slams Will Smith For Slap: 'He Really Slapped Me...When You Hurt My Child, You Hurt Me'

Chris Rock's Mother Rose Slams Will Smith For Slap: 'He Really Slapped Me...When You Hurt My Child, You Hurt Me'
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For the first time, Chris Rock’s mother, Rose Rock is weighing in on Will Smith slapping her son at the Oscars last month.

Speaking about Smith, she told Columbia, S.C. NBC affiliate WIS, “I told someone when Will slapped Chris, he slapped all of us, but he really slapped me. When you hurt my child, you hurt me.’

Rose says that she initially thought it was. staged before "he [Will] started using obscenities.”

She also said that her son was excited to present Questlove with his first Oscar, but did not get the moment.

“No one even heard his speech,” she said. “No one was able to just be in the moment because everyone was sitting there like, ‘what just happened?’”

 

 

WIS also asked her what she'd say to Smith.

She said, “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.”

 

She also gave her opinion on Rock's 10-year Oscars ban

“I wouldn’t take his award away, and I don’t see any good way they could have taken him out without disrupting,” she said.

And on his apology, she added, “I feel really bad that he never apologized. I mean his people wrote up a piece saying I apologize to Chris Rock, but you see something like that is personal, you reach out.”

Before he was banned from Academy events for 10 years, Smith also resigned from the org.

“I have directly responded to the Academy’s disciplinary hearing notice, and I will fully accept any and all consequences for my conduct,” his statement said in part. “My actions at the 94th Academy Awards presentation were shocking, painful, and inexcusable. The list of those I have hurt is long and includes Chris, his family, many of my dear friends and loved ones, all those in attendance, and global audiences at home.I betrayed the trust of the Academy. I deprived other nominees and winners of their opportunity to celebrate and be celebrated for their extraordinary work. I am heartbroken. I want to put the focus back on those who deserve attention for their achievements and allow the Academy to get back to the incredible work it does to support creativity and artistry in film. So, I am resigning from membership in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and will accept any further consequences the Board deems appropriate. Change takes time and I am committed to doing the work to ensure that I never again allow violence to overtake reason.”

Watch the full interview below: