Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle Joke About Both Being Assaulted Onstage and Will Smith’s ‘Very Strange Choice’

Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle have taken their antics on a joint tour, with the first stop in Liverpool, England including more jokes about their respective assaults this year. First up was Rock, who referenced Will Smith’s controversial Oscars slap. 

“Did that shit hurt?” he said to the crowd, per Deadline. “Goddamn right…the motherfucker hit me over a bullshit joke, the nicest joke I ever told.”

Rock, 57, added that he returned to work the next day, and that, in this scenario, he doesn’t consider himself the victim.

Chappelle, 49, took the stage next, where he touched on his own assault incident from May, when the comedian was attacked by an audience member while performing at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.

“That was some scary shit,” Chappelle said.

He also touched on Rock’s assault, saying Will Smith made a “very strange choice.” Chappelle added that while Rock has always been true to himself, Smith “did an impression of a perfect man for 30 years.” He continued, “I just hope [Smith] doesn’t put that mask back on.”

In late August, Rock reportedly told a Phoenix, Arizona crowd that the Oscars asked him to return in 2023, but he turned them down. He apparently said that it would be like going back to a crime scene, and that he also declined a Super Bowl ad offer after the slapping incident.

Rock and Chappelle will tour together in the UK and Europe before returning to America for the rest of the run in late September.