Chris Rock has given his most open interpretation of the "slap heard around the world" during the UK stretch of his stand-up comedy tour.
Besides a few jokes, Rock has hardly commented on the March incident that saw Will Smith get up on stage and slap him during the Oscars ceremony over a joke he made about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
Appearing with fellow US comedian Dave Chappelle at Liverpool's M&S Arena on Thursday (1 September), Rock was asked by his fellow comic: "Did that s*** hurt?"
For the first time since the event, Rock did not hold back with his response.
"Goddam right. the motherf***er hit me over a bulls*** joke, the nicest joke I ever told," Rock responded, per Daily Mail.
Rock had joked that Pinkett Smith would be appearing in GI Jane 2, making light of her bald head. Pinkett Smith has been vocal about her struggles with alopecia - an inflammatory condition that causes excessive hair loss.
"Will did the impression of a perfect person for 30 years, and he ripped his mask off and showed us he was as ugly as the rest of us.
"Whatever the consequences are. I hope he doesn't put his mask back on again, and lets his real face breathe. I see myself in both men," he said.
Rock recently revealed that he was approached by the Academy Awards to host the ceremony next year but had no issue with turning them down, saying it would be like asking Nicole Brown Simpson "to go back to the restaurant", referencing the events that lead to her death and the subsequent OJ Simpson murder trial. His comments were met with criticism on social media and from Simpson's sister.
Smith apologised for his actions and resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the week following the Oscars. The actor was then relatively silent until July, when he released a Youtube video in which he apologised to Rock and Rock's family.
Rock has not yet responded to Smith's apology.
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