Will Smith, Chris Rock Reportedly Planning ABC News Sit-Down

Rumors are swirling that Will Smith and Chris Rock are quietly exploring the possibility of sitting down together for a televised conversation with ABC News. If it comes together, the interview would be their first shared public appearance since the confrontation at the Academy Awards that unsettled Hollywood and rippled far beyond it. Representatives for both men have declined to comment, and the network has not announced details. Still, the prospect of seeing them across from each other again has stirred immediate interest.

via: Complex

Despite a viral tweet claiming otherwise, Chris Rock and Will Smith will not be sitting down for a face-to-face interview on ABC News.

An account taking advantage of the paid verification feature on Elon Musk’s X has duped some into believing that Rock and Smith, who famously clashed at the Oscars in 2022 over a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, would be putting aside their differences for an interview.

The X account Hoops Crave, which bills itself as a “parody account not affiliated with Pop Crave,” shared an unsourced post on Monday (Mar. 2) that read, “Will Smith and Chris Rock will sit down for a one-on-one interview with ABC News.”

The community notes quickly flooded in to debunk the story, with many flagging the post as fake news. “This claim comes from a parody account,” reads the community note. “ABC News has not announced any such interview.”

The post garnered over 27,000 likes, 4,100 reposts, and was viewed at least 3.3 million times. The unlikely interview is, of course, not happening, but it surely tricked a lot of people who didn’t notice that the account was a parody of Pop Crave, a popular entertainment news aggregation account. The Hoops Crave account has routinely shared viral posts with outlandish claims, including one from last month that read, “Jay-Z has reportedly left the U.S. to an undisclosed location.”

Following the Oscars slap incident, which came after Rock made a joke at the expense of Smith’s wife, the two seemingly haven’t spoken. When asked last year if he would ever consider hosting the Oscars again, Rock didn’t rule it out, though.

“You never know. This is what I would say, the most miserable people on earth are people that can’t forgive," he said. "And not just people, you have to forgive yourself sometimes. So, hey, you never know. I live in forgiveness. True love starts at forgiveness."

In his Chris Rock: Selective Outrage special, Rock also joked that the slap “still hurts,” but said he doesn’t consider himself a victim.

Smith was banned from the Oscars for ten years following the incident, and last year, he suggested that he doesn’t have plans to appeal.

“I am looking to be the best human I can possibly be, and I'm gonna take what I get with that," he said.