It’s been over a year since Will Smith infamously slapped Chris Rock on stage at the 94th Academy Awards, yet the situation is still a topic of discussion amongst celebrities and fans alike. For his part, Smith has since apologized to Rock and is aiming to move forward with his personal and professional lives. When it comes to the latter, he kicked off his comeback with the historical drama Emancipation, which will be followed by Bad Boys 4. Smith is currently filming the movie and, as he does so, Cedric the Entertainer has some words of support for him. Not only that, but the comic also weighed in on whether Smith and Rock might reconcile.
After the slap occurred, a number of comedians chastised Will Smith for striking Chris Rock, who’d made a joke in reference to Smith’s wife, Jada. Dave Chapelle has since been candid about the situation. 94th Oscars co-host Wanda Sykes also detailed how she wanted to respond and called the moment “sickening.” Rock himself eventually called out the Smiths in his latest Netflix stand-up special in March. Cedric the Entertainer, a veteran comic himself, found it “weird” that Smith would lose his temper on Hollywood’s biggest night. However, he doesn’t believe the actor should be cancelled for what happened:
People are human beings and they make human mistakes. So this idea of canceling people out of their lives and saying they can't exist anymore or they shouldn't, I feel that that's a bridge too far. ‘And it's usually done in the sense of blind internet power. … For me, I think the idea of canceling people for any kind of act, if it's not doing something to children, or a woman as a man, then again, if you're just, create an act, drunk driving or adultery, all these things that people want to cancel folks for; I feel like, again, we just don't allow ourselves enough opportunity to be human.
Cancel culture has been a major topic of discussion over the past several years, and a number of stars have taken issue with it. What the Neighborhood star seems to be arguing to DailyMail.com is that people should be given the space to make mistakes – to a reasonable degree. He’s not the only comic to give Will Smith the benefit of the doubt, as Kevin Hart also spoke on his situation with Chris Rock. He believes both men deserve to continue their work in peace and should be able to sort out their differences when they’re ready.
Speaking of their differences, there’s still the matter of whether the two might actually patch things up. If the Saturday Night Live alum’s routine in Selective Outrage is any indication, he isn’t planning for a kumbaya moment. Cedric the Entertainer went on to say that the I Am Legend star’s anger didn’t stem from the joke itself but from long-standing issues between him and Chris Rock. The Barbershop alum does, however, believe that they’ll make amends even if it takes a bit of time to happen:
They'll be able to talk about it and get through it. But it's one of those things like a family argument, you just have to ease through it until somebody makes some good food and we sit down and eat. And then we are like ‘this is what happened. All right. So I believe that we are getting closer to that moment.
As he waits for said moment, Will Smith seems to be deep in his work on his latest blockbuster. He provided a Bad Boys 4 filming update from the set, which was shared at CinemaCon last month. Thus far, he seems to be pleased to be back to work and chopping it up with on-screen partner Martin Lawrence, who he shouted out for his birthday in April. Despite continued discussions about the slap, there seems to be plenty of buzz surrounding the movie. I think fans and Cedric the Entertainer, who expressed excitement for the film during his interview, will head out to see it when it opens. Though at this point, I’m not sure Chris Rock is eager to hop on the Smith comeback train.
A release date has yet to be announced for the fourth Bad Boys flick. While you wait for news on that front, check out CinemaBlend’s schedule of 2023 new movie releases to get info on films headed to theaters and streaming services this year.
