The slap heard round the world happened at the 2022 Academy Awards when actor Will Smith slapped actor and comedian Chris Rock live on stage over a joke made about Smith’s wife. Now, nearly a year after the event took place, Rock is ready to make jokes about Smith and one streaming company could benefit.
What Happened: The slap at the Academy Awards was one of the most talked about events of 2022, landing both Smith and Rock on the list of the 10 most searched people of the year.
A comedy tour by Rock saw strong ticket sales, with fans anxious to hear if he would make comments and/or jokes about the incident. While Rock has mentioned the slap in passing, his first big comedy show to feature numerous jokes and segments is coming during a new stand-up special.
For the first time ever, streaming giant Netflix Inc NFLX will air a live comedy special Saturday, March 4, 2023.
The streaming giant is turning the live comedy special from Rock into a huge affair, with a pre-show and post-show planned.
Among the guests that will be featured include Leslie Jones, Amy Schumer, Cedric the Entertainer, Jerry Seinfeld, Kevin Hart, Matthew McConaughey, Paul McCartney, Sarah Silverman, Wanda Sykes and Ice-T.
“Selective Outrage” will feature Rock taking the stage at 10 p.m. ET Saturday.
Netflix users will be able to select a “watch live” button beginning at 9:20 p.m. ET on Saturday to enter a waiting room before the pre-show begins.
Users will be able to pause, rewind and jump to live during the comedy special. The pre-show and post-show will not be available to rewatch, according to The Verge.
“Chris Rock is one of the most iconic and important comedic voices of our generation,” Netflix’s Vice President of Stand-Up and Comedy Robbie Praw said at the time the special was announced. “We’re thrilled the entire world will be able to experience a live Chris Rock comedy event and be part of Netflix history.”
Related Link: Netflix Q4 Results: Shares Fast Forward On Revenue Beat, Subscriber Jump, Strong Forecast
Why It’s Important: Rock has been testing material on the Smith slap at live shows ahead of the live comedy special on Netflix, according to the New York Post.
“The other day, I watched ‘Emancipation’ just so I could watch him (Smith) getting whipped,” Rock told an audience of a movie starring Smith as an escaped slave.
Sources have said Rock has been saving material and waiting for this moment to share his take on the infamous slap.
Rock has even taken shots at recent shows on Smith’s marriage.
“We have all been cheated on. She hurt him way more than he ever hurt me.”
For Netflix, along with the publicity of having Rock’s stand-up special feature comments about the infamous Smith slap, it serves as a test of potential live content ambitions.
Netflix will host the Screen Actors Guild Awards live next year on the streaming platform. The company has also been bidding on several sports rights packages, including tennis, surfing and Formula One.
Streaming rivals like Disney+ from The Walt Disney Company DIS, Amazon Prime from Amazon.com Inc AMZN and AppleTV+ from Apple Inc AAPL have all aired live events, including sports.
For Netflix to bid more aggressively on sports and for sports leagues to take Netflix seriously, there could be a lot at stake with the Chris Rock special.
Amazon has earned praise for its "Thursday Night Football" matchups, which also helped the company boost its Prime membership subscribers.
Apple recently kicked off coverage of Major League Soccer, one of the largest-ever sports streaming deals.
Read Next: Could Disney Be Entering The Livestreaming Market?
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