BOSTON (AP) — Comedian Chris Rock performed in public Wednesday for the first time since Oscar-winning actor Will Smith slapped him for a joke about Smith’s wife during the Academy Awards show.
The nighttime performance in Boston comes just three days after Smith slapped Rock on the Oscars stage, stunning the crowd at the 94th Academy Awards and those watching at home.
Rock was greeted by thunderous applause and told the audience “I’m still kind of processing what happened,” according to audio posted by the Hollywood trade outlet Variety. He also tamped down any audience expectations that he would talk at length about the slap, telling them: “If you came to hear that, I’m not ... I had like a whole show I wrote before this weekend.”
“We love you,” someone shouted at one point, eliciting cheers from the audience, according to the audio.
At Sunday’s Oscars, Rock had made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s buzzed haircut. Pinkett Smith has spoken publicly about her diagnosis of alopecia, which can cause baldness.