BOSTON — In his first time on stage since the Oscars, comedian Chris Rock on Wednesday said he’s not quite ready to talk or joke about what happened when Will Smith slapped him Sunday.
“I’m still kind of processing what happened,” he told the sold-out crowd at The Wilbur, adding that at some point he would delve deeper into the incident, but he wasn’t ready just yet.
Rock, dressed in all white, was greeted with two standing ovations before he ever began his set.
“Let me do a show, yo,” he told the cheering crowd, “you got me all misty.”
He jokingly asked the audience, “how was your weekend?” before hinting at the slap and telling fans that his performance wouldn’t be focused on it.
“I had a whole show before this weekend,” he said.
Rock’s comments and the first of his back-to-back shows came hours after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said that it had begun disciplinary proceedings against Smith.
At Sunday’s ceremony, while presenting the award for best documentary feature, Rock joked that he was looking forward to seeing Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, in “G.I. Jane 2.”
In 2018, Pinkett Smith revealed she was diagnosed with alopecia, a condition that causes hair loss. The film “G.I. Jane” stars Demi Moore as a woman who shaves her head during military service.
Smith marched to the stage at the Dolby Theatre and hit Rock. He then returned to his seat and shouted, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f—–g mouth!”
Rock kept his composure after he was slapped, joking that it was the “greatest night in the history of television.” He declined to press charges, the Los Angeles Police Department said.
Smith drew scrutiny Sunday because he did not directly apologize to Rock when he accepted the best actor Oscar for his role in “King Richard,” a portrait of Venus and Serena Williams’ father. He instead apologized directly to Rock in a statement the following day, saying he was “out of line” and “embarrassed.”
“Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive,” Smith said in a message posted Monday night on Instagram. “My behavior at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable.”
Rock has previously mocked Pinkett-Smith, notably in 2016 while delivering his monologue as Oscars host.
“Jada said she’s not coming. Protesting. I was like, ‘Isn’t she on a TV show?’ Jada’s going to boycott the Oscars? Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna’s panties. I wasn’t invited!”
Rock’s Boston shows were sold out long before the Oscars slap. On its Instagram page on Feb. 11, The Wilbur wrote that tickets to the March 30 and 31 shows, as well as April 1 shows, were gone. The venue announced March 18 that another show was being added.
Daniel Arkin contributed.