LOS ANGELES: Chris Rock finally hit back at Will Smith on Saturday in a brutal stand-up routine, a year after the actor slapped him in front of a global TV audience for the Oscars.

The comedian came out swinging, accusing the Hollywood star of “selective outrage” when he reacted to a jibe about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head, and saying Smith lashed out at a shorter man because he was annoyed his wife had cheated on him.

“Will Smith practices selective outrage,” Rock told an audience in a show that was streamed live on Netflix.

“Everybody that really knows, knows I had nothing to do with that. I didn’t have any entanglements,” he said, referring to Pinkett Smith’s acknowledged marital infidelity.

Rock was presenting an Oscar in Hollywood last March when he made a crack about Pinkett Smith’s closely cropped head. She has alopecia.

The “Men in Black” star mounted the stage and slapped the comedian hard across the face, before returning to his seat and yelling obscenities at the presenter.

A few minutes later, Smith was presented with an Oscar for best actor for his role in “King Richard.” He later apologised to Rock, but was banned from the Oscars for a decade.

Rock was praised for his measured response on the night, and has maintained near silence on the issue in the year since. But on Saturday night’s livestream from Baltimore, he let rip. “People ask ‘Did it hurt?’. It still hurts,” he said.

Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2023