Chris Rock made an emotional return to the stage on Wednesday night for the first time since Will Smith slapped him at the Academy Awards.for the first time. He was greeted by the audience at Boston’s Wilbur Theater with two back-to-back standing ovations, lasting several minutes.
“Let me be all misty and s***,” Rock said with tears in his eyes, gesturing to the crowd’s warm response.“I don’t have a bunch of s*** to say about that, so if you came here for that,” he said, paused and then continued, “I had written a whole show before this weekend. I’m still processing what happened, so at some point I’ll talk about that s***. It’ll be serious. It’ll be funny, but right now I’m going to tell some jokes.
Smith issued an apology on Monday in a statement on Instagram, calling his behavior “unacceptable and inexcusable.” “I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness,” Smith wrote.
In their statement Wednesday, the Academy said that Smith was asked to leave the ceremony after the altercation “and refused.” The Academy said it recognizes “we could have handled the situation differently.”