Adam Sandler has claimed the Oscars slap was the “best thing that ever happened to” Chris Rock.
The actor discussed the infamous incident in a new interview with the Joe Rogan Experience. The slap occured at the Oscars ceremony in March 2022, in which Smith slapped Rock onstage after the comedian made a joke about wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
Smith has since apologised to Rock, resigned from the Academy, and was banned from attending Academy events for 10 years. Meanwhile, Rock released his historic standup special Selective Outrage in March last year – nearly a year on since the slap.
Speaking to Rogan, Sandler said: “I think that was the best thing that ever happened to him because then [his standup] became wild again,” he said during the podcast. “It became outrageous.”
Meanwhile, Rogan speculated that Smith may regret the slap for staining his legacy: “He probably wakes up in the morning and goes, ‘Why did I do that?’”.
Comedian Leslie Jones recounted the incident in September last year, saying it was “humiliating” for Rock: “It really affected him. People need to understand his daughters, his parents, saw that. He had to go to counselling with his daughters.”
Jones added that she was “infuriated” by the Oscars slap, continuing: “You don’t know that I was going to jump in my car and roll up there. I was so fucking mad on so many levels.”
“Chris Rock did a fucking joke,” Jones said. “I know Will, too… I was like, you couldn’t handle that shit afterwards. This is the Oscars. The whole world is watching.”
In other news, Adam Sandler’s ‘Happy Gilmore’ is getting a sequel.