Five months following Will Smith’s infamous slap to the face of comedian Chris Rock at the Academy Awards, the SNL alum has delivered a slap of his own – to the academy. During a Sunday night stand-up performance in Phoenix at the Arizona Financial Theatre, Rock told the audience that he had been asked to host next year’s Oscars. However, referencing the trial of O.J. Simpson, he added that going back to the awards ceremony would be like asking Nicole Brown Simpson “to go back to the restaurant” where she left her eyeglasses before being killed. The 57-year-old also shared that he also turned down a post-slap Super Bowl commercial offer.

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Since the March incident, Rock has seen an increase in ticket sales for his ongoing stand-up tour. For the most part, he has steered clear of commenting much about the Oscar-night drama, but on Sunday he quipped about how much the slap hurt and how physically outmatched he was by Smith.

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“He’s bigger than me. The state of Nevada would not sanction a fight between me and Will Smith.”

The Academy Awards Is in Search of Ways to Move Forward

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The film academy did not respond to a request for comment Monday and normally does not share its discussions with potential hosts. The organization is not expected to name an emcee for next year’s show, which is scheduled for March 12, until it gets closer to the date. Last week, the recently appointed academy chief executive Bill Kramer told a group of reporters in a roundtable interview that the group is looking to put the shocking incident, which led to Smith getting banned from all academy events for 10 years, in the rearview mirror. While three of the last four Oscars ceremonies have had no host, Kramer noted that the organization is determined to have a host for next year’s show. When asked if the 2023 show would address the incident in any way, he replied it is their focus right now. Kramer added:

This year’s ceremony had three co-hosts: Amy Schumer, Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes.

“We want to move forward and have an Oscars that celebrates cinema. A host is very important to us. We are committed to having a host on the show this year, and we are already looking at some key partners on that.”