Chris Rock Returns to ‘Vanity Fair’ Oscars Party After Will Smith Slap

Chris Rock has returned to the Oscars social scene after skipping one of the biggest events held in Beverly Hills, each year since the Will Smith slapping incident at the 94th Academy Awards in 2022.

On Sunday, March 2, the comedian, 60, attended the Vanity Fair Oscars Party hosted by the magazine’s editor-in-chief Radhika Jones at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.

Rock looked polished in a black tuxedo paired with a white shirt and smart black shoes as he posed for photos alongside his youngest daughter Zahra Rock. He shares daughters – Zahra, 20, and Lola Simone Rock, 22 – with ex-wife Malaak Compton-Rock.

During the exclusive event, Rock was spotted talking to David Spade, Mick Jagger and Timothée Chalamet before posing for photos with Lauren Sánchez and Jeff Bezos as well as Sacha Baron Cohen and Tracee Ellis Ross.

Will Smith, 56, was noticeably absent from the star-studded party, having been banned from attending the Oscars for 10 years by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Back in 2022, the Men in Black actor attended the Vanity Fair Oscars post-ceremony extravaganza despite having earlier struck Rock for joking, “Jada, I love ya. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see ya.”

Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith, 53, – who has alopecia — was visibly unimpressed by the joke before Smith — who was up for Best Actor at the ceremony —  approached the stage to slap Rock.

“Keep my wife’s name out your f—— mouth!” Smith yelled after returning to his seat. 

Months later during a comedy set at the Arizona Financial Theatre in Phoenix, Ariz., Rock revealed he had declined an offer to host the Oscars 2023. 

As previously reported, he compared returning to the Academy Awards as similar to going back to a crime scene.

Rock continued to stay clear of Oscar events in the years after the slap except for his attendance at a viewing party in Miami for the 95th Academy Awards.

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He appeared relaxed and in good spirits at this year’s Vanity Fair party, which came just weeks after he celebrated his milestone birthday with celebrity friends in New York. 

Madonna, Bill Murray, Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson, were spotted at the celebration alongside Jerry Seinfeld and wife Jessica Seinfeld.

The group went to the Crane Club steak house on Saturday, Feb. 15, around a week after Rock’s Feb. 7 birthday.