Chris Rock says he was asked to host the Academy Awards next year after he was slapped on stage by fellow actor Will Smith while presenting an award on stage at the ceremony in March.
He revealed the invites during a standup show in Phoenix on Sunday, according to The Arizona Republic.
Rock purportedly told the crowd he turned it down, along with a Super Bowl commercial. He said the slap from Smith “hurt.”
He’s bigger than me,” Rock said. “The state of Nevada would not sanction a fight between me and Will Smith.”
The 2022 ceremony, before presenting an award, Rock made a joke about the shaved head of Smith’s wife, the actress Jada Pinkett Smith. Rock suggested she went bald for a movie role, quipping “G.I. Jane 2? Can’t wait to see it.” He was apparently unaware that Pinkett Smith has alopecia, which caused sudden hair loss.
Will Smith, who was seated by the stage, walked up to Rock and slapped him across the face, then returned to his seat and shouted at Rock to not say his wife’s name.
Smith was banned from Academy related events for 10 years and apologized. In a video last month, the actor said he was “deeply remorseful” about the incident.
ABC President of Entertainment, Craig Erich expressed an openness to seeing Rock return to the Oscars stage in 2023.
Chris Rock has previously hosted the Oscars in 2005 and 2016.
