Chris Rock is becoming a pro at avoiding “The Slap.”
Sources say that Rock has been wearing headphones around his SoHo neighborhood — not because he’s pumping the new Kylie Minogue album, “Infinite Disco” — but because he’s hoping it dissuades the public from talking to him about the world’s most famous temper tantrum.
Needless to say, last month Will Smith climbed on stage at the Oscars and slapped Rock — who was presenting an award — for quipping that his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, resembled Demi Moore when she had a buzzcut in “G.I. Jane.” (Pinkett Smith recently had her head shaved because she suffering from alopecia).
And Rock is discovering that people are quite keen to share their opinions about the matter. “It looks like he’s listening to music,” laughed an insider, “but it’s just so that nobody approaches him.
We hear he’s wearing headphones to dodge questions about the Oscar drama.GC ImagesHe’s also having to deftly dodge the issue on stage. We’re told that Rock made an unannounced appearance Tuesday night at the Comedy Cellar in Greenwich Village, where — somewhat inevitably — he was heckled about the jaw-dropping incident.
During the handful of sets he’s done since the Oscars, Rock has made clear that he doesn’t want to joke about the moment, because he’s “processing it.”
But we’re told during Tuesday’s show a guy in the audience yelled, “We won’t slap you!”
“Chris is a veteran,” said a spy, “He made light of it and moved on.”
For his part, Smith was banned from attending all Academy events, including the Oscars for the next ten years. Most recently, he was spotted in Mumbai, India where sources say he’s on a “spiritual journey” doing yoga and meditating. Meanwhile, sources told Page Six recently that he still hasn’t personally reached out to Rock to apologize.
