Chris Rock has reportedly turned down the opportunity to host the Academy Awards in 2023. According to the Arizona Republic, while bantering with the audience during a show at Phoenix’s Financial Theater, the stand-up comedian revealed that he had been approached by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to host the awards show for a third time, after hosting in 2005 and 2016.
Earlier this year, while presenting the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature during the 94th Academy Award ceremony, Rock shouted out to actress Jada Pinkett Smith that he was excited to see “G.I. Jane 2,” referring to Pinkett Smith’s shaved head.
Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia, an autoimmune disease with the side effect of hair loss. In response, Will Smith, her husband, walked on to the stage and slapped Rock across the face and shouted, “Keep my wife’s name out of your (expletive) mouth.”
Less than an hour later, Smith won the Best Actor Academy Award for his performance in “King Richard.” He was reprimanded and has since resigned from the Academy, as well as offered several public apologies on social media. Smith also received a ban from the Oscars and other Academy events for the next ten years.
What did Chris Rock say about going back to the Oscars?
Rock reportedly told the Financial Theater audience that returning to the Oscars would be like returning to the scene of a crime, comparing it to asking Nicole Brown Simpson, the ex-wife O.J. Simpson was accused of murdering, to go back to the restaurant where she left her sunglasses the night of her death in the summer of 1994.
Per the Arizona Republic, after Rock made a reference to how someone could become famous for being a victim, someone in the audience shouted, “Talk about it!” Rock confirmed that the slap hurt and referenced Smith’s role as Muhammed Ali in the 2001 biopic “Ali.”
“He’s bigger than me,” Rock reportedly said. “The state of Nevada would not sanction a fight between me and Will Smith.”
Moving forward
The Academy has not responded to Rock’s comments. Next year’s Academy Awards are scheduled for March 12, and a host is not expected to be announced until closer to the date.
Per the Los Angeles Times, newly appointed AMPAS CEO Bill Kramer said at a roundtable interview last week that the organization is looking to move forward. When asked whether the incident would be addressed during the ceremony, Kramer replied, “We want to move forward and have an Oscars that celebrates cinema. That’s our focus right now. It’s about moving forward.”