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“Saturday Night Live” star Michael Che backed Chris Rock’s decision to jump back into performing stand-up comedy following the infamous Oscars moment.
Che admitted he was “annoyed” after Will Smith slapped Rock onstage during the 2022 Oscars ceremony.
The comedian noted that Rock was expected to give out the award after being slapped.
“One of the things that annoyed me was when it was happening people were like ‘Oh well now he’s selling tickets,'” Che told Howard Stern. “Yeah, he had a polished act that he wanted to present to people. And now people are buying tickets to hear him talk about dumb s— that he has zero interest in even bringing up.”
He continued: “And I think for a long time that’s probably why he didn’t bring it up. Because he wanted to just get the story over with. He had an act, he was prepared for something else. And now he’s just hijacked his show. It annoyed the hell out of me.”
Stern also asked Che if he worries about performing onstage following the Oscars slap.
“I try not to think of it,” he told Stern. “I try not to think about it onstage because it just makes for a tension that’s not exactly fun.”
“To me, comedy is like sex,” Che continued. “It’s like, try not to think of the horrors. It kind of ruins the mood. It was a weird thing. I felt like we lost a hero that day.”
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Rock was slapped by actor Will Smith while presenting an award at the 2022 Oscars ceremony on March 27. Rock had made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head. The actress suffers from alopecia.
Smith went on to win the award for best actor that night, but was later banned from attending any events by the Academy.
He apologized to Rock via Instagram following the physical altercation.
Pinkett Smith has called for the two to “reconcile.”
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“Now about Oscar night, my deepest hope is that these two intelligent, capable men have an opportunity to heal, talk this out and reconcile,” she said during a recent episode of “Red Table Talk.”
However, a source told “Entertainment Tonight” that Rock is “not concerned with the Smiths at the moment.”
“He’s touring and he’s preparing for a comedy special,” the source added.