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Here’s What Chris Rock’s Brother Thinks of Will Smith’s Apology

By Gil Kaufman Mar 30, 2022 | 12:13 PM

Chris Rock’s younger brother, Tony, had a terse, one-word answer when a fan asked him on Twitter to describe his feelings about Will Smith‘s apology for slapping his sibling. “Do you approve of the apology?,” someone wondered on Tuesday night (March 29). “No,” replied Tony, 47, who is also a stand-up comedian.

Smith made global headlines for smacking Oscar presenter Rock on stage at the 2022 Academy Awards on Sunday night, after he stormed the stage and attacked the comedian following a joke referencing the King Richard star’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head; she suffers from the autoimmune disease alopecia, which causes hair loss.

After hitting Rock with an open hand and shocking the typically unflappable comedian into a brief stunned silence, Smith twice shouted, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f—ing mouth!” from his front-row seat beside Pinkett Smith, whose condition Rock reportedly was not aware of. While Smith did apologize to the Academy and his fellow nominees on Sunday night while accepting the best actor trophy for Richard — but not to Rock — the actor posted an Instagram apology to the 57-year-old comedian on Monday.

The bizarre incident was so surreal that at first some questioned whether it was a staged bit. But Rock’s response made it clear that he was shocked by the stage rush and had indeed been struck with some force. So, when a Twitter user suggested otherwise — “That s–t was real? It felt like some stagged sh–t to me. If it was real, it was definitely foul and uncalled for” — Tony Rock wondered, “Staged for?”

As of press time, Rock had not made a public statement or posted a reaction to the attack, so when the back-and-forth with Tony Rock included with the question, “How is your brother doing?,” Tony said, “All of them are fine, without elaborating. And because comedy runs in the family, Tony also had a pithy response when asked whether Will Smith or “jada[s] boyfriend” hits harder: “Mama Rock,” he wrote.

While rap impresario Sean “Diddy” Combs claimed that Smith and Rock made peace later that night at an Oscars afterparty, when another Twitter user asked if Diddy was lying when he said all was good now, Tony posted a second curt response: “Yep.”

The “20 Questions Tuesday” Twitter spree included some other choice responses from Tony to such queries as: “How did you feel about the Oscar fiasco?” (“Foul”), “What are u going to do to Will?” (“Respond”), “Sooooooo …….. Um … See anything interesting this weekend?” (“No. Heard alot though.”) and, most pointedly, “Replace your brother with Jerry Seinfeld on the stage that night, Would the narrative still be the same or Will Smith be locked up by LAPD?” (“You know.”)

Rock has declined to press charges against Smith, according to the Los Angeles Police Department; the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences issued a statement on Monday in which it condemned Smith’s attack on Rock, revealing that it has “officially started a formal review around the incident and will explore further action and consequences in accordance with our Bylaws, Standards of Conduct and California law.”

The viral Oscar’s moment has elicited a startling array of responses, including takes from Smith’s surprised mother, “traumatized” show co-host comedian Amy Schumer and “sickened” comedian/actor Jim Carrey, with Tony Rock wrapping things up with a “not my call” when asked the question many have debated on social media over the past few days: “should the Oscar be taken back? Should Chris get it for his remarkable composure during a live assault?”

Tony signed off by encouraging his followers to check out his brother’s award-winning 2009 documentary about the history of Black hair, Good Hair, writing, “Be sure to watch Good Hair since the narrative is now changed to all my bro does is disrespect women of color.”

See aTony Rock’s tweets below.

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heres what chris rocks brother thinks of will smiths apology