The Los Angeles Times conducted an exclusive interview with Chris Rock’s younger brother, Kenny Rock. Like many others, the 42-year-old witnessed the Oscars slap through a video posted on social media. He initially thought the slapping from actor Will Smith was staged. However, Kenny knew it was real once he saw the video and heard Smith cursing from his seat.
“It eats at me watching it over and over again because you’ve seen a loved one being attacked, and there’s nothing you can do about it,” Rock told The Times in an interview.
“Every time I’m watching the videos, it’s like a rendition that just keeps going over and over in my head. My brother was no threat to him, and you just had no respect for him at that moment. You just belittled him in front of millions of people that watch the show.”
While the Academy plans on taking disciplinary action against Smith, Kenny told the outlet that he wants the 53-year-old’s Academy Award for his portrayal of Richard Williams in the film King Richard to be taken away from him. Kenny also stated that he hopes Smith will be barred from attending future Oscars.
The confrontation occurred after Rock seemingly made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, comparing her shaved head to actress Demi Moore’s appearance in the 1997 film G.I. Jane. Though Smith initially laughed at the joke, he took action after his wife was not amused as she rolled her eyes in her seat. He got out of his seat, walked onto the stage, and surprisingly slapped Rock in the face.
Many have suggested that Rock’s joke was insensitive since Pinkett-Smith has openly discussed her struggles with alopecia, an autoimmune disease that causes permanent hair loss.
Kenny defended his brother by saying that he did not believe the 57-year-old knew about the alopecia.
“The joke was funny,” Kenny Rock said. “It wasn’t hilarious funny, but I know that if he knew that she had alopecia … he wouldn’t make a joke about that. But he didn’t know.”
Shortly after slapping Rock, Smith accepted his first Oscar award and apologized to the Academy during his acceptance speech. However, he did not apologize to Rock, who hosted the award show.
“I might have looked at it differently had he initially apologized when he got on the stage and cried and accepted the award, but he didn’t, so, right there, that tells me that it is something else,” Kenny said.
Smith issued a statement on his Instagram account the following day, acknowledging the now-viral incident. However, he publicly apologized to Rock and his family in a resignation letter to the Academy days later.
Kenny told The Times that he nor his family accepted Smith’s apology.
“No, I don’t accept it because I don’t think it was genuine,” Kenny Rock said. “I think his publicist and the people that work under him probably advised him to do that.”
Several of Rock’s siblings have been vocal about the incident, including Tony Rock, who expressed his thoughts during his show in North Carolina last week, Sis2Sis reported.
“If you think you gonna walk up on this stage, this ain’t the motherf***ing Oscars. And if you walk your a** up here, you ain’t nominated for s*** but these motherf***ing hands,” he said. “Oh, we are going to pop the rest of the year. Every time you see me do a show, pop!”
Tony continued, “You gonna hit my motherf***ing brother because your b**ch gave you a side-eye?”
The comedian assured the audience that Rock had the biggest supporters in his corner.
“Oh, it’s a lot of Rock brothers — it’s ten of us,” Tony exclaimed.
Kenny recalled the first time he heard about the incident during the interview. He was riding the A train in Brooklyn when one of his friends tried to reach him, wondering if he had heard what happened.
Since then, the Brooklyn native said he had seen the video more than 20 times. He said the Oscars should have removed him immediately following the altercation.
“He should have been escorted out of there,” he said. “I hold them accountable for that. He could have went up there and did anything you wanted to my brother. It could have been much worse than what he did.”
“He belittled my brother. He had no respect for him,” Kenny added. “In my opinion, he embarrassed himself by doing that and his legacy by doing that.”
