After Will Smith’s slap, Chris Rock rejects offer to host 2023 Oscars

Popular American comedian, Chris Rock has reportedly turned down the offer from the Academy to host the 2023 Oscars for the third time running.

According to the 57-year-old comedian, returning to host the show would be like returning to the crime scene.

Rock revealed this during a standup show over the weekend in Phoenix, Arizona, United States.

According to Newyork Post, during the show, Rock reportedly compared accepting the hosting gig to returning to the scene of a crime, referencing the murder of OJ Simpson’s late wife, saying that accepting the offer would be like asking Nicole Brown Simpson “to go back to the restaurant.”

His rejected hosting duties would’ve come a year after Hollywood actor Will Smith walked on stage on March 27 and slapped him at the Academy Awards for making a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, about looking like “G.I. Jane” because of her bald head.