Ever since the 2022 Academy Awards took place last year, there’s been non-stop discussion about Will Smith, Chris Rock, and what has been collectively known as The Slap. This year’s Oscars have come and gone, which has seemingly sparked new interest in that infamous controversy. Then there’s Rock’s new comedy special Selective Outrage, which marked the first time he really opened up about his experience being slapped on national television. Adam Sandler recently spoke about that Netflix special, saying “it was as exciting to watch as when the Super Bowl is on.” Given the viral nature of this ongoing situation, Sand Man isn’t wrong.
Will Smith broke the internet when he walked on stage at the Oscars and slapped Chris Rock, shortly before winning Best Actor for his performance in King Richard. After staying mum for months, Rock wrote and performed a special largely about that incident called Selective Outrage. Those with a Netflix subscription tuned in to see the comedian take aim at the Smith family, including Adam Sandler himself. He recently spoke to People and shared his reaction to the new streaming special, saying:
I thought he was unbelievably relaxed, funny, thoughtful. Crushed it and was real to himself.
It looks like Adam Sandler was one of the many people who tuned in to watch Selective Outrage as it was streamed live across Netflix. Adam Sandler knows Chris Rock personally, so if he thought that the 58 year-old comic was true to himself in the special, then it must be true. And that’s not even speaking to the actual comedy of it all.
It’s almost hard to believe, but it’s been a full year of chatter about Will Smith and Chris Rock’s scuffle at the 2022 Oscars. The public watched as the recent Oscar winner began his professional comeback with the release of Emancipation, while Rock occasionally threw in a quick reference while touring with his comedy show. Perhaps it’s for this reason that the hype for Selective Outrage was so high for the public and even Adam Sandler. He shared how excited he was ahead of its release, saying:
And it was as exciting to watch as when the Super Bowl is on. I thought about it all weekend. 'All right, Rock is doing his thing tonight!' Saturday, watched it in my kitchen, laughed my ass off, immediately watched it right after. It was one of the best experiences. I thought it was amazing.
Now that Chris Rock has finally been able to share his perspective on The Slap, I have to wonder if we’re any closer to him and Will Smith finding some common ground. While the King Richard actor has issued a number of public apologies, the two haven’t actually spoken since last year’s Oscars.
As for Adam Sandler, he’s keeping busy with a number of exciting projects including Murder Mystery 2 with Jennifer Aniston. In the meantime, check out the 2023 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.
