Chris Rock claimed that Oprah Winfrey offered him a candid interview, but he declined.
The “Top 5” star was slapped by Will Smith at this year’s Oscars after making a joke about the “King Richard” actor’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith, but he told fans at a stand-up comedy performance in Phoenix, Arizona, over the weekend that he won’t be “tear his heart out” in public about the incident.
January Harrison, a member of the audience, said on “Entertainment Tonight”: “During the evening, he explained that he denied an invitation to appear on ‘Oprah’ for a sit-down interview and a Super Bowl commercial with Will Smith.
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“He responded, ‘You will not see me bawling my heart out about this in any interviews. I will not become a victim.
“I believe we were all curious if he would discuss that incident or not.”
Several audience members also disclosed Rock stated that he was asked to host the Oscars next year, but he declined.
Chris Rock, according to a source, was invited to host next year’s Academy Awards at his Sunday night show at Arizona Financial Theatre, but he declined.
“He also mentioned that he was offered the opportunity to appear in a Super Bowl ad, which he declined.
“Chris quipped that returning to the Oscars would be analogous to Nicole Brown Simpson being asked to return to the Italian restaurant where she left her glasses,” he said.
A member of the audience asked him to “speak about” the slap, to which he referred to Will Smith’s portrayal of Muhammad Ali in the 2001 film “Ali.”
He said: “He’s bigger than me. Nevada would not sanction a bout between myself and Will Smith.”
In March, the “Men in Black” actor hit Rock across the face less than an hour before he received the Oscar for Best Actor for his part in “King Richard.”
Last month, he publicly apologized and sought out to the comedian, stating he was “psychologically and emotionally” harmed by the encounter.