Chris Rock will talk about Will Smith’s Oscars slap in his live Netflix special

By Marianne Garvey, CNN

Chris Rock will hit back the way he does best — on stage.

The legendary comic is set to perform a live standup special on Netflix on March 4, where he’ll address Will Smith slapping him at the Oscars, according to Netflix.

While Rock has alluded to the incident in short quips in his stand-up performances over the past year, he’ll address it at greater length for the first time.

The news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Rock workshopped the material for the special in January during an arena show in Charleston, where he was on the bill with Dave Chappelle. Dressed in all white, he addressed the now-infamous moment with Smith about a third of the way through his set, according to a source in attendance who spoke with CNN.

Rock talked about collective outrage after the Oscars incident and made several jokes.

“The thing people wanna know … did it hurt? Hell yeah it hurt. He played Muhammad Ali! I played Pookie (in ‘New Jack City’). Even in animated movies I’m a zebra, he’s a f—ing shark. I got hit so hard, I heard ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ears,” Rock joked, according the source.

In another line, Rock talked about the difference in size between the two men.

“Will Smith is a big dude. I am not,” Rock said. “Will Smith is shirtless in his movies. If you see me in a movie getting open heart surgery, I’m gonna have a sweater on.”

“Chris Rock: Selective Outrage” will stream live on Netflix at 10 p.m. ET on Saturday from the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, a week before this year’s Academy Awards.

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