Comedy icon Dave Chappelle said Will Smith’s “mask” came off when he slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars earlier this year, revealing something ugly beneath. And he said hopes the mask stays off.
“A lot of people forget who Will Smith is,” Chappelle said during an event with Rock in Liverpool last week, according to the Telegraph. He reminded the audience that the actor was from a rough part of Philadelphia.
“Then, 10 minutes before he was regarding to get the biggest award… he acted like he was back in Philadelphia,” Chappelle said.
“Will did the impression of a perfect person for 30 years, and he ripped his mask off and showed us he was as ugly as the rest of us. Whatever the consequences are… I hope he doesn’t put his mask back on once more and lets his real face breathe.”
“I see myself in both men,” Chappelle said.
Chappelle was attacked on stage a little more than a month following the Oscars. Rock was in attendance.
Both Rock and Chappelle joked regarding their attacks at a small club show in Los Angeles days later.
“At least you got smacked by someone of repute,” Chappelle told Rock, per The Hollywood Reporter. “I got smacked by a homeless guy with leaves in his hair.
