Chris Rock has recently been under fire after he joked that he watched Emancipation just so he could see Will Smith "get whipped."
Ahead of his new Netflix show - which is set to premiere today (March 4) - the 58-year-old tested out some new material at a comedy club, recalling the slapping incident that shocked the world at last year's Academy Awards.
It's almost been a year since Will Smith got out of his seat at the Oscars and headed to the stage to attack Rock for cracking a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
Though Smith apologized for his outrageous actions, he has been banned from this year’s prestigious awards, which is set to take place on March 12, as well as nine further ceremonies - whether he is nominated or not.
Talking to a packed venue at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theater, the Death at a Funeral star spoke of the incident saying: "Will Smith practices selective outrage. People who are in the know, know that s*** had nothing to do with me."
He continued: "The thing people wanna know... did it hurt? Hell yeah it hurt," he was quoted as saying at one gig as per the HuffPost. "He played Muhammad Ali! I played Pookie [his role in New Jack City]. Even in animated movies, I’m a zebra, he’s a f****** shark. I got hit so hard, I heard 'Summertime' ringing in my ears."
A source also revealed to the outlet that the comedian is waiting to reveal more during his Netflix special.
"If you were waiting to see Rock on tour address the infamous Will Smith slap situation...the comedian is waiting to spill his humorous take on it on his live Netflix stand-up special."
According to the New York Post, at a different event, Rock also joked that he watched Smith's new movie Emancipation just so he could watch the actor "getting whipped."
"I rooted for Will Smith my whole life," he told the audience. But Rock then told his fan that he's "hate-watching" Smith’s latest movie, in which he plays a tortured, escaped slave.
"The other day, I watched 'Emancipation' just so I could watch him getting whipped."
While the taunt was supposed to be a joke, it didn't sit entirely well with everyone given the sensitive nature of the film.
"Chris Rock can make all the jokes he wants about Will Smith, but making a joke saying 'I only watched Emancipation to see Will Smith get whipped' in a room of predominantly white people is disgusting," this Twitter user wrote.
Another added: "Chris Rock 'joked' about watching Emancipation to watch Will Smith get whipped. Almost a full year after HE made fun of his wife's illness? Remind [me] why f****** SLAPPING was the worse thing to do in this situation?"
A third also described the comedian as "demented" over the gag.
"I don’t think you understand how demented it is that Chris [Rock] said he watched will smith’s movie to witness him being whipped," they tweeted.
An insider told Page Six that "most stand-ups like to test out their material in smaller clubs before they tape a special," but Rock "relied on the help of veteran comedy writers to run his jokes by to make sure they were tweaked, solid and funny."
Considering the reaction, it may be a good idea to "tweak" the Emancipation joke.
Selective Outrage premieres live on Netflix March 4.
