THIS SLAPS

Will Smith Raps About Slapping Chris Rock in New Album

While Smith has apologized for the infamous slap, he sounded less remorseful on his new album.

After a 20-year hiatus from releasing albums, Will Smith made his comeback Friday—and wastes no time rapping about slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars. His new album, Based on a True Story, opens with Int. Barbershop - Day, a skit song featuring Smith and others as characters gossiping about the infamous incident, which came after a joke Rock made about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith. “I heard he down bad / I heard he won the Oscar, but had to give it back / And you know they only made him do that s--- because he’s Black,” the song goes. Later, it references the now-notorious line, “Keep my wife’s name out your f---ing mouth,” that Smith shouted after slapping Rock on live TV. While the actor and musician has since apologized for the slap, calling his behavior “unacceptable” in an emotional video, he sounded less remorseful on the album’s next track, “You Lookin’ for Me?”, rapping, “Took a lot / I’m back on top / Y’all gon’ have to get acclimated / Won’t stop my s--- still hot even though I won’t get nominated.” Smith resigned from the Academy and was given a 10-year ban from the Oscars after the incident.