Are Chris Rock and Will Smith Doing a Face-to-Face ABC News Interview Ahead of This Year’s Oscars?
The 94th Academy Awards was one of the most memorable Oscars because of the moment no one ever expected to see on live TV.
March 27, 2022, was the night Chris Rock came out on stage to present the award for Best Documentary Feature. Before announcing the nominees, Rock made a joke directed at Will Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith. The Bad Boys actor was seen in the audience chuckling at first, but then a few moments later, things changed as Smith marched up on stage and smacked the comedian across the face. Smith then began shouting and cursing at Rock after he returned to his seat.
That moment overshadowed everything else that happened that evening. It also marked a downward turn in Smith’s career and damaged his reputation. The Men in Black star later revealed that he apologized to Rock and was sorry for his actions. But in the court of public opinion, Smith has never been viewed the way he once was.
As for Rock, what happened was embarrassing because at the time, he appeared totally defenseless in front of millions of people watching around the world.
But now there is a claim that both men are ready to sit down for a face-to-face televised interview. This information came from a viral post on X; however, it’s not accurate. In fact, the Hoops Crave account is a parody account and not affiliated with Pop Crave.
On March 2, the former posted, “Will Smith and Chris Rock will sit down for a one-on-one interview with ABC News.”
The post quickly generated over 25,000 likes, more than 4,000 reposts, and was viewed at least 3 million times. Eventually, the post was flagged by X as fake news, as no such interview has been announced.
Celebrity commentators Rita Panahi and Kinsey Schofield talked about why the slap incident was especially damaging to Smith’s career and the perception of him since among fans.
“His fall from grace, I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it in the celebrity world,” Panahi said.
Schofield added, “It contradicted who he was so completely. We thought that he was everyone’s best friend. We thought he was a happy-go-lucky … He’s the same guy that refused to curse in his music … It was hard for us to digest. I think we were incredibly disappointed.”
In 2025, three years after the “slap heard ’round the world,” Rock was asked if he’s ever host the Oscars again and told E! News, “You never know. This is what I would say, ‘the most miserable people on earth are people that can’t forgive. And not just people, you have to forgive yourself sometimes.’ So, hey, you never know. I live in forgiveness. True love starts at forgiveness.”
Smith received a 10-year ban from the Academy Awards for his actions that night, and previously suggested that he is letting that stand and has no plans to appeal the decision, saying, “ I’m gonna take what I get with that.”
Perhaps Rock will host sometime during Smith’s ban to ensure nothing gets out of hand again.
