Rock and Pinkett Smith starred in the animated movie Madagascar together (Picture: Jesse Grant/WireImage)
An insider said to be close to Jada Pinkett Smith has accused Chris Rock of being ‘obsessed’ with the actress a year after the Oscars 2022 slap debacle.
A few days ago, Rock released his new comedy special on Netflix, the streaming platform’s first ever live event, which was filmed at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland.
During the stand-up, the comic covered several topics, including Meghan Markle and the royal family, as well the incident that occurred at last year’s Academy Awards when Will Smith got up on the stage and struck Rock across the face.
The slap occurred after Rock mocked Smith’s wife Pinkett Smith, comparing her to ‘GI Jane’ in reference to her shaved head, despite the fact that she has the hair loss condition alopecia.
Addressing the fallout, the comedian said in his special: ‘People are like, “Did it hurt?” It still hurts! I’ve got Summertime ringing in my ears. [But] you will never see me on Oprah or Gayle crying. Never gonna happen. I took that hit like Pacquiao, motherf*.’
An insider claimed that Jada ‘has had no part in all of this other than being heckled’, stating: ‘Chris is obsessed with her and that’s been going on for almost 30 years.’
Smith won an Oscar for his performance in King Richard shortly after slapping Rock at the ceremony (Picture: Reuters/Brian Snyder/File Photo)
Speaking to People, they said: ‘Look where he chose to film his Netflix special. Her hometown [of Baltimore]. Obsessed.’
The source brought up the fact that several years ago, Jada helped to start a movement with the Oscars ‘questioning why there are so few Black members’ amid criticism of the Academy over lack of diversity.
‘And Chris took it to this?’ they added.
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‘She never asked Chris to not host the Oscars ever. She publicly said in a Facebook post at the time Chris would be a great Oscars host and is perfect for the job.’
During his special, Rock also ridiculed the highly-publicised ‘entanglement’ that Pinkett Smith had with musician August Alsina while she and Smith were married, which the couple discussed on her online talk show Red Table Talk.
‘His wife was f****** her son’s friend. Now, I normally would not talk about this s***, but for some reason, these n***** put that s*** on the internet. I have no idea why two people that talented would do something that low-down,’ he said.
‘We all been cheated on. Everybody in here has been cheated on. None of us have ever been interviewed by the person that cheated on us on television. None of us. … Why the f*** would you do that s***? She hurt him way more than he hurt me, okay?’
Metro.co.uk has contacted representatives for Jada Pinkett Smith and Chris Rock for comment.
Chris Rock: Selective Outrage is available to stream on Netflix.
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The comedian filmed his new Netflix special in Jada’s hometown.