Chris Rock’s botched Will Smith joke edited out of Netflix special

TV

By Brooke Steinberg

March 10, 2023 | 10:54 am

It was the slap heard around the world — but the world won’t get to hear one of Chris Rock’s jokes about it.

A joke about Will Smith in Rock’s Netflix special “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage” was edited out after the comedian messed up during the live show.

Rock, 58, joked with Smith, 54, and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, 51, toward the end of his March 4 show, specifically discussing a conversation he claims to have had with them about his hosting gig at the Oscars – the award in 2016 when he botched the joke.

“Years ago his wife told me to leave the Academy Awards; I shouldn’t be hosting because her husband wasn’t nominated for ‘Emancipation,’ the greatest piece of s–t ever! Rock said during Netflix’s first ever global live streaming event. “No, not ‘Emancipation’, I made up the joke.”

The comedian meant to refer to the 2015 sports drama “Concussion,” a film based on the true story of neuropathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu, played by Smith, who was the first to discover CTE, a football-related brain injury.

Rock continued, correctly continuing the joke: “She started this s–t. She said that I, a king, grown man, should quit my job because ‘My husband didn’t get nominated for ‘Concussion.’

That part of the special has now been edited out, and a source told The Hollywood Reporter that Rock is aware of the edit and worked with Netflix on the final cut, which is now available to people streaming.

The 2016 Oscars was the same year that Pinkett Smith boycotted the ceremony for the #OscarsSoWhite movement, which protested the Academy’s history of lack of diversity.

Last year, Smith hit out at Rock after the comedian made a joke about Pinkett Smith’s hair — which Smith took as a jab at his wife’s battle with alopecia. The tone-deaf comment inspired the actor to rush onto the Los Angeles Dolby Theater stage and punch Rock in the face.

Meanwhile, it was reported that Smith was left “embarrassed and hurt” by Rock’s comments in the special.

“Will is embarrassed and hurt by what Chris said about him and his family in his Netflix special,” a source told Entertainment Tonight. “He didn’t see it, but he had people tell him what Chris said,” the insider continued, adding that “Will and Jada have seen comments about it.”

“Will apologized to Chris and wanted Chris to let it go,” the source added.

Smith reportedly feels that Netflix made a “tasteless” move in airing Rock’s special.