Did the Will Smith and Chris Rock feud start before the Oscars?
The slap that, for many, seemed staged, was "real official", as well as the history of disagreements between Will Smith and Chris Rock. This isn't the first time Rock has teased the acting couple.
In 2016, when he hosted the Oscars, the creator of the series Everybody Hates Chris joked about the Smiths' decision to boycott the Academy in protest at the lack of nominations by black artists for the awards.
“Jada said she's not coming. I was like, is Jada going to boycott the Oscars? Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna's panties. I was not invited!”, he commented at the time.
Later at the event, Rock also scoffed at the Freaky One Star, whose name was considered for a nomination for the role in the movie A Man Among Giants, but didn't make the Academy's shortlist.
"It's not fair that Will performs so well and he wasn't nominated... But it's also not fair that he was paid $20 million for The Crazy Adventures of James West," he scoffed, referencing a 1999 film that's known as a failure in Smith's story.
And the bullshit doesn't end there. In 2018, Will Smith took to social media to congratulate and praise Sheree Zampino, mother of his first child, on her birthday. Chris Rock commented: “Wow! You have a very understanding wife,” in reference to Jada.
