Chris Rock's younger brother Kenny claimed that he still does not believe the images of Will Smith beating his brother at the Oscars ceremony, and asked that the actor be stripped of his golden statuette by the authorities of the Hollywood Academy.
Kenny Rock told the Los Angeles Times that he initially thought Smith's action was part of the sketch, but he realized it was all too real when Smith insulted the comedian after beating him in front of millions of people who were following the gala.
Kenny said he first heard about the incident on stage while riding the A train in Brooklyn and a friend contacted him, but the signal was bad and he couldn't see it.
Since then, he has watched the video more than 20 times.
“It pains me to see him over and over again because he's a loved one being attacked and there's nothing you can do about it,” Kenny, 42, told the newspaper.
“My brother was not a threat to him. He just didn't respect it and looked down on it in front of millions of people who watch the show,” said the actor's brother.
Kenny Rock, who is also an actor, asked the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to take disciplinary action against him and to withdraw his Oscar.
Last Friday Smith resigned as a member of the institution following the attack on Rock. “I betrayed the trust of the Academy. My heart is broken,” said the actor. However, the Academy will continue the disciplinary procedure against the artist.
Smith, 53, broke onto the stage and slapped Rock, 57, for making a practical joke about the baldness of the actor's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, 50.
Rock was presenting the award for Best Documentary when he made the unfortunate joke that caused the actor's excessive anger.
The comedian joked that Will Smith was looking forward to a sequel to “G.I. Jane” (film starring Demi Moore in 1997), making obvious reference to his wife's bald head. So Smith got up from his seat, got on stage, walked to Rock and hit him. After sitting down again, Smith shouted to Rock, “Keep my wife's name out of your damn mouth!” The Dolby Theater in Los Angeles fell silent and the comedian said, “That was the best night in television history.”
Speaking to the media outlet, Kenny assured that he does not think his brother knew that Pinkett-Smith suffers from alopecia, an autoimmune disorder that causes hair loss. “The joke was funny. It wasn't much fun, but I know that if he had known that she had alopecia, he wouldn't have made a joke about it. He didn't know it,” he said.
Smith apologized to the Academy and his fellow nominees during his acceptance speech. A day later, he issued a formal apology to Rock from his networks.
“I could have seen it differently if he had initially apologized when he went on stage and cried and accepted the award, but he didn't,” Kenny said
“His apologies were not genuine,” he told the newspaper. “I think his publicist and the people who work for him probably advised him to do that.”
Kenny revealed that Smith has not communicated privately with his brother.
“It should have been taken out of there. I could have gone up and did whatever I wanted to my brother. It could have been much worse than what he did,” he concluded.
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