Chris Rock’s ‘Botched’ Will Smith Joke Edited by Netflix

Chris Rock he made a blunder while joking Will Smith during its comedy special, a mistake that Netflix has now fixed.

Viewers weighed in on the blunder, with some joking that Rock had a year to prepare and still failed to pull off his prank.

On the other hand, Will is said to be hurt by the content of the special and wants Rock to “let him go.”

Read on to learn more.

Netflix edits Chris Rock’s botched Will Smith joke

In his recent Netflix special “Selective Outrage,” which aired live on March 4, comedian Chris Rock opened up about the infamous slap he received from Will Smith at the 2022 Oscars. However, one joke criticizing Will and his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith has reportedly been removed from the show.

During the live broadcast, Rock opened up about the humiliating incident and claimed that Jada was responsible for suggesting that he drop out of the Oscars because Will wasn’t nominated for his movie “Concussion.” He said: “Years ago his wife told me I should pull out of the Oscars. I shouldn’t have a host because his man didn’t get a candidate for emancipation. The comedian then said that Will gave him a “king concussion” with the slap.

However, Rock mixed up the film’s title, mistaking it for Will’s other film, “Emancipation.” He apologized to the audience, admitted his mistake and quickly corrected himself. “No, not emancipation; I got the joke. “Concussion.”

In the edited version of the show, which made Netflix’s Top 10 in just one day, Rock’s apology for the blunder was replaced by the use of the correct movie title in the final cut of the special. The show was first streamed live on Netflix, the first time a streaming service had done so.

Fans share their thoughts on Chris Rock’s joke performance

Despite the streaming services’ smooth editing, viewers were quick to point out that in the current version of the special, Rock gives the correct movie title in the joke, and his apology for the mistake was removed.

Fans took to Twitter to voice their opinions, and per Daily Mail, one user expressed his sympathy for Rock, tweeting, “So sorry Chris Rock. He waited a year to get revenge on his bully and wrote an AMAZING last 10 minutes of his live special…then he cracked the last Concussion/Emancipation joke. It’s still spectacular, of course, but it might as well have been out of this world.”

Another Twitter user commented on the comic’s mishap, stating that he had been practicing Will Smith’s concussion joke for a year but still choked up on stage. One fan tweeted: “Chris Rock messed up that concussion/release joke.”

Will Smith wants Chris Rock to let him go

According to the source speaking with him Fun tonight, Will feels embarrassed and hurt by Rock’s decision to base his new Netflix special on their infamous fight at last year’s Oscars.

Even though he didn’t watch the show himself, Will was informed about the content of the special by others and even saw comments about it online.

The clash in question made headlines at the 2022 Oscars when Smith took the stage and slapped Rock over a joke about comedian Jada’s alopecia. In the weeks following his violent outburst, Will was forced to resign from the Academy and was banned for ten years.

Although Will has apologized to Rock, he is said to have been deeply affected by the Netflix special and feels it was in poor taste for the streaming service to air it. However, Will hopes that Rock will move on from the incident and “let him go.”

Will Smith reportedly never personally apologized to Chris Rock

According to a source close to Rock he spoke to Daily Mail, the comedian could have avoided discussing the scandal by receiving a personal apology from Will. The insider claimed that Will only apologized publicly, which was seen as insincere, and did not directly apologize to Rock.

The source noted that Will only dealt with the slap twice. Once on his Instagram page the day after the Oscars, and the other in a video apology. However, the source insisted that Rock’s decision to revisit the case in his Netflix special was not out of revenge, but rather a way for the comic to “get it all out” and finally move on.

“Chris wanted to get this out once and for all, and he was done with it. It was very cathartic for him,” the source concluded.