Chris Rock‘s younger brother Kenny Rock has challenged Will Smith to a boxing match in the wake of Smith’s attack on the comic at the Academy Awards.
Kenny, 42, appeared alongside Celebrity Boxing promoter Damon Feldman in New York City on Tuesday, telling TMZ he has drawn up a contract for a potential match, should Smith decide to accept his offer.
The open contract Kenny signed was for a match slated to take place at the Charles F. Dodge City Center in Pembroke Pines, Florida on June 11.
The latest: Chris Rock’s younger brother Kenny Rock, 42, has challenged Will Smith, 53, to a boxing match in the wake of Smith’s attack on the comic, 57, at the Academy Awards
‘I should get in the ring with Will Smith,’ Kenny said. ‘I could take him down… I’ll let the hands do the talking.’
Kenny told the outlet that he has been ‘texting and talking’ with Chris, 57, who is ‘doing great’ weeks after the incident.
Kenny expressed skepticism over the 10-year ban Smith received from the Academy Awards last week, after slapping the comedian during the March 27 show.
‘We have to see if he’s actually gonna get the 10-year ban,’ Kenny said. ‘After three years, they might think we’ll forget about it and then slot him in … we have to make sure that these people do what they say they’re gonna do.’
Kenny appeared alongside Celebrity Boxing promoter Damon Feldman in New York City on Tuesday, telling TMZ he has reached a contract for a potential match, should Smith decide to accept his offer
Kenny told the outlet that he has been ‘texting and talking’ with Chris who is ‘doing great’ weeks after the incident
Chris Rock has stayed relatively mum about the incident involving Smith at the Oscars, briefly addressing it at a few comedy shows in the two weeks since the shocking occurrence
Will Smith SLAPS Chris Rock at the Oscars over joke about Jada
Kenny said he doubted that Rock accepted the apology Smith issued toward Rock on social media following the encounter, adding that he ‘didn’t want to bring it up’ when speaking to his brother.
Kenny was asked about comments his brother Tony Rock, 47, made following the Oscars, as Tony told the Los Angeles Times that he was troubled by the physical attack on his sibling in front of a worldwide audience.
‘It eats at me watching it over and over again, because you’ve seen a loved one being attacked and there’s nothing you can do about it,’ Tony told the paper April 4. ‘Every time I’m watching the videos, it’s like a rendition that just keeps going over and over in my head.
‘My brother was no threat to him and you just had no respect for him at that moment. You just belittled him in front of millions of people that watch the show.’
Kenny told TMZ that he didn’t blame Tony – who said the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences should take away the Best Actor award Smith won for King Richard at the proceedings – for ‘taking it kind of personally.’
In the wake of the incident, Smith’s former musical collaborator DJ Jazzy Jeff, 57, came to his defense while appearing Thursday at Chicago’s Dorian’s Through The Record Shop for a Closed Sessions Legend Conversation.
DJ Jazzy Jeff said that Smith’s slap of Rock was due to an uncharacteristic ‘lapse in judgment’ on Smith’s part that he likely regrets.
Smith’s former musical collaborator DJ Jazzy Jeff, 57, came to his defense while appearing Thursday at Chicago’s Dorian’s Through The Record Shop for a Closed Sessions Legend Conversation. He was snapped in LA in February
The musical artist, who was half of the Grammy-winning tandem DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, was seen with Smith in February
Will Smith holds Oscar at Vanity Fair party after slapping Chris Rock
‘Don’t get it twisted that it was something he was proud of: it was a lapse in judgment, you know?’ the musical artist, who was half of the Grammy-winning tandem DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, said in a clip that was published on WGCI Chicago’s Instagram page.
He added: ‘I think the thing that I’ve realized is I don’t know too many people that has had the least amount of lapse of judgment than him. I can name 50 times that he should’ve smacked the s*** out of somebody and he didn’t. So for him to have a lapse in judgment, he’s human. And I think a lot of the criticism comes from the people who don’t think people like that are human.’
The Oscars exchange between Smith and Rock took place after Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head, saying, ‘Jada, I love you, G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it,’ in reference to the 1997 movie which featured Demi Moore with a shaved head. (Pinkett Smith, 50, has diagnosed with alopecia, which causes hair loss.)
Smith then walked onstage and smacked Rock, then returned to his seat and shouted at him twice, ‘Keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth!’ to a stunned audience at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California.
Chris Rock has stayed relatively mum about the incident involving Smith at the Oscars, briefly addressing it at a few comedy shows in the two weeks since the shocking occurrence.
The Emmy-winning performer appeared Friday at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California, telling the audience, ‘I’m okay. I have a whole show and I’m not talking about that until I get paid,’ the Palm Springs Desert Sun reported.
The Saturday Night Live alum added, ‘Life is good – I got my hearing back,’ according to the outlet.
The Everybody Hates Chris star previously referred to the incident at a March 30 show at The Wilbur in Boston, saying he was ‘still processing what happened,’ and that ‘other than the weird thing, life is pretty good.’
