an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Kenny Rock discussed his feelings about
his brother being slapped by Will Smith at the Oscars.
“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,” Kenny Rock told the Times. “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,” he added. “You just belittled him in front of millions of people that watch the show.”
Smith hit Chris Rock after Rock joked about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s close-cut hairstyle.
Pinkett Smith suffers hair loss due to alopecia.
Kenny Rock said his brother didn’t know about her medical condition and told the Times he would like to see the the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences take back the best actor Oscar Smith won that night for his performance in “King Richard.”
Days after the Oscars, the Academy announced that it had “initiated disciplinary proceedings” against Smith.
resigned from the Academy.
said in a statement that the group “will continue to move forward with our disciplinary proceedings against Mr. Smith for violations of the Academy’s Standards of Conduct, in advance of our next scheduled board meeting on April 18.”
has also spoken out in support of his sibling.
said during a comedy show days after the incident that he was still “processing” what had happened and plans to speak on it at a later date.