Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Terry Crews has an interesting perspective on the infamous Oscars slap scandal as a Hollywood star who regrettably has his own history of trying to solve problems through violence. While promoting his new memoir, Tough, Crews spoke with THR about the controversial situation. As the millions watching live saw that night, Smith had smacked Chris Rock on the head over a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, resulting in heavy backlash and a 10-year Oscars ban for Smith.
For his part, it was difficult to watch from both sides, as Crews is good friends with both Smith and Rock, previously co-starring with the latter on Everybody Hates Chris. With that said, he understands Smith’s reaction to the joke, as Crews recalls doing much worse himself. He describes how his wife made him promise to change after one such incident which apparently involved a man getting slammed onto concrete by Crews.
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Crews then recalls how he had a more controlled reaction to the night he was allegedly assaulted by WME agent Adam Venit, concluding that this actually “saved” his life. The actor then expresses heavy gratitude to Rock for how he similarly had a controlled reaction when he was smacked by Smith on the Oscars stage, arguing that this actually makes the comedian exhibit the “true definition of toughness.” As Crews puts it:
Terry Crews Says Chris Rock’s Reaction Saved Hollywood
ABC
Many have commended Chris Rock for keeping the show going and laughing off getting slapped by the King Richard actor as best as he could. Terry Crews imagines how much worse things could have gone if Rock were to have reacted in anger, potentially escalating the situation. The actor in fact credits his Everybody Hates Chris co-star for basically saving Hollywood.
Terry Crews’ memoir, Tough, releases on April 26, 2022.
