“A better gift would have been a sheep”: Dave Chappelle Takes a Brutal Dig at Will Smith After Kevin Hart Brings a Goat to Roast Chris Rock
The 94th edition of the Oscars on March 27, 2022, will be remembered in the history of Hollywood not only for the traditions that are always followed at this event but also for a single scandalous moment that shocked the entire world. The incident in which Will Smith slapped Chris Rock because of the joke he made at the expense of Jada Pinkett Smith, who suffers from alopecia, was too shocking for the world to register.
After it happened, the Ali actor became the subject of controversy, judgments, and the collapse of a constructed celebrity image. Once the smoke cleared, the world waited for both Smith and Rock to react to this viral controversy.
Kevin Hart Offered Chris Rock a Goat Named ‘Will Smith’
Kevin Hart has always been very respectful of Chris Rock and considers him one of the greatest comic artists ever. A few months after the slap incident, Hart shared the stage with Rock and Dave Chappelle by performing at the historic Madison Square Garden space. It was during this very show that Hart decided to pay tribute to his role model Rock with the metaphoric gift of an actual goat.
Hart aimed at conveying the acronym G.O.A.T. literally to Rock. The crowd started laughing and applauding as Chappelle made a funny remark. In the video, he can be seen saying,
I’ll tell you the truth Kevin. A better gift would have been a sheep. Goats eat grass from the roots and sheep just skim the top.
As the audience laughed, a confused Hart asked Chappelle what he meant by that, to which he replied that Hart was the insane one out of them for bringing a live goat on stage. However, amid all this, Chappelle asked the question that eventually addressed the elephant in the room. He asked,
What are you gonna name this goat, Chris?
Without missing a beat, Hart replied,
The name is Will Smith.
After this hilarious incident, Hart gave an interview on The Tonight Show where he talked about what happened in the incident and how he managed to pull that off,
In my mind, I said, ‘The goat’s gonna come out, do a tight two minutes.’ Instead, he s— on Chris’ shoes. He destroyed Chris’ shoes. Chris had on some white moon boots and that goat got him.
Hart also said in the interview that he wanted Rock to feel better and special, especially after the slap incident. He revealed that Rock almost got into tears seeing the love and respect from the audience and fellow comedians.
Dave Chappelle, Kevin Hart and Chris Rock Reacted to Will Smith’s Slap Differently
Even though the banter between Chappelle, Hart, and Rock could be considered a lighthearted way to address the scandal that happened at the Oscars, they reacted to the incident more seriously in their own ways.
As a comedian, Chappelle particularly criticized Smith during his Netflix show, titled Dave Chappelle: The Dreamer where he mocked the actions of Will Smith and asked questions about the incident. Initially, Chappelle could not believe that Smith actually slapped Rock. To confirm, he later called Rock. In his show, Chappelle says,
I thought it was fake. I didn’t know. So I asked. I go, ‘Well, you know.’ He said, ‘What?’ I said ‘Did it hurt?’ He (Rock) said, ‘Yes, n***a, it hurt.’ And then I knew it was real. And then, and only then, was I offended…The real offensive part was after he slapped him, Will just sat down and enjoyed the rest of his evening. It was crazy.
Chappelle also took a dig at the public image that Will Smith had built over the years. According to The Telegraph, Chappelle said,
Will did the impression of a perfect person for 30 years, and he ripped his mask off and showed us he was as ugly as the rest of us.
Kevin Hart, on the other hand, spoke on behalf of both sides and urged everyone to give Smith another chance. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, he said,
Will is apologetic, you know. He’s in a better space, of course, than what he was after. People are human, and as humans sometimes we make mistakes. So it’s not about talking about the past, it’s about acknowledging the present and doing your best to move forward.
However, Rock channeled his feelings after the slap and made a Netflix show named Selective Outrage. In the show, he talks about his personal toll after the incident. He also dives deep into the complexities that led Smith to take that step. He talks about Will Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett’s extramarital affair, and how it had hurt Smith more than his slap had hurt Rock. He says,
Everybody in here has been cheated on. None of us have ever been interviewed by the person that cheated on us on television … She hurt him way more than he hurt me.
With a mix of humor and satire, Rock finally addresses the fact that he did not retaliate on the night because he was well raised by his parents. However, after the incident, Smith issued a public apology to Rock and everyone whom he let down.
