For Chris Rock, returning to the 2023 Oscars would be like returning to the scene of a crime.
The 57-year-old comedian told a Phoenix comedy show audience on Sunday that he had been asked to lead next year’s event, but declined the opportunity.
According to the Republic of Arizona, the “Everybody Hates Chris” alum told the crowd that going back to the Oscars would be like asking Nicole Brown Simpson to “go back to the restaurant” where she left her glasses before killing, in a reference to the murder case against OJ Simpson, who was acquitted in the case.
His rejected hosting duties would have come a year after Will Smith, 53, walked on stage on March 27 and slapped him at the Academy Awards for making a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, who looked like ” GI Jane” because of her bald head.
The Post has reached out to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for comment.
Rock also claimed he was offered a Super Bowl commercial after the hit — and turned down.
In May, ABC’s entertainment president Craig Erich told Deadline that he was open to having Rock return as host next year. The choice, the director said, would certainly boost ratings.
“Clearly there was a lot of controversy” [surrounding this year’s broadcast]which overshadowed a lot of the positives about the show, but I was really happy with the program,” Erich stated. “It was the biggest revival of all the award shows this season.”
Rock previously hosted the Oscars twice: in 2005 and again in 2016.
But according to Smith, Rock is still “not ready” to talk one-on-one about the 2022 smackdown. Instead, the “King Richard” star publicly apologized to Rock on July 29 in a nearly six-minute YouTube video. video.
“So I’ll tell you, Chris, I apologize,” he said with visible remorse. “My behavior was unacceptable and I’m here whenever you want to talk.”
Rock has remained fairly quiet about the incident, with the exception of a few comedy shows in recent months.
“Yeah, that hurts, motherfucker — but I shook that off and went to work the next day,” he declared while performing with Kevin Hart and Dave Chappelle at Madison Square Garden in July. “Anyone who says ‘hurt words’ has never been punched in the face.”
“I’m not a victim, motherf-ker,” the ‘Grown Ups’ star declared the next day in Holmdel, New Jersey. “I’m not going to the hospital for a haircut.”
The 2023 Oscars will take place on March 12.