Tony Rock Thinks Will Smith Slapped Chris Rock Over Jada’s Past Relationship With 2Pac

S. PinnockJuly 21, 2022

Will Smith’s infamous reputation might have stemmed from more than just a joke gone wrong at the Oscars. The slap he placed on Chris Rock at the Oscars is now assumed to have stemmed from Jada Pinkett Smith’s relationship with the late 2Pac. This assumption comes from Chris Rock’s younger brother, Tony Rock, who shared his thoughts on the matter.

Speaking on the incident that occurred at the 94th Annual Academy Awards last March, Tony Rock shared why he thought the slap was not caused by the joke about Jada being bald.

“He laughed first,” Rock said during a recent episode of the Top Billin’ with Bill Bellamy podcast.

He continued to explain that Smith laughing clearly showed that he felt no embarrassment from the joke. Noting Jada’s reaction, he added that it was possibly “the Jada look” that caused Will to react that way.

Even more than just her look, Rock believes that the slap had something to do with Jada’s past relationship with the late 2Pac and Smith’s feelings of not measuring up to the rapper.

From Rock’s perspective, the slap was a build-up of more than one issue that caused Smith to explode. Sensitive jokes over the years from his brother might be one, and the relationship Smith’s wife had with 2Pac is another on the list.

“He said it himself, he always hated the ‘soft moniker’. He’s soft, Jada won’t let 2Pac die,” Rock continued. He pointed out that Jada frequently speaks about the late rapper and even Smith’s daughter, Willow Smith, has spoken about him.

Adding that it is a well-known fact that Jada talks about 2Pac, Rock went on to say, “As a man married to this woman, you’re like, ‘Damn is what I’m doing not enough?’”

Will Smith himself had shared the feeling of not doing enough for the women in his life. Last year, during a sit down with Oprah Winfrey on her Apple TV+ show ‘The Oprah Conversation’, Smith expressed feeling like he failed most women he’s encountered in his life, which stems from seeing his late father abuse his mother.

“I’ve carried, most of my life, the sense of failing every woman I interact with,” the 53-year-old actor said.

He subsequently added, “There are two women on earth I feel like I haven’t failed: my grandmother, Gigi, and Willow.”

Watch the interview with Tony Rock below.