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Anyone recalls who actually won what in the 2022 Academy Awards?

For the more cultured amongst us at least, the event on Mar. 27 2022 has been penned in history books not as the 94th Oscars, but as the "Will Smith slaps Chris Rock incident".

The slap even has its own Wikipedia page.

"I'm not a victim, baby."

After a year of keeping mum about the whole affair, Chris Rock has finally come out to talk about the slap in the most Chris Rock way.

Chris rock is not holding back about Will Smith and Jada . This is just too much. pic.twitter.com/RTxjIsflgq

— Don Salmon (@dijoni) March 5, 2023

In his Netflix special "Selective Outrage", the comedian retaliated to the assault verbally, delivering blow after blow to Will's marriage and reputation.

After quipping that he still had "'Summertime' ringing in [his] ears", Rock said: "But I'm not a victim, baby. You will never see me on Oprah or Gayle crying."

Rock then revealed the not-so-subtle inspiration behind his special's title.

He said: "Will Smith practices selective outrage. Everybody knows what the f*ck happened. Everybody who really knows, knows I had nothing to do with that sh*t."

Appearing to have evolved beyond "your mother" jokes, the comedian didn't hesitate to play the wife card instead.

"She hurt him way more than he hurt me"

Rock unapologetically aired the dirtiest of the Smiths' laundry, referencing Jada's alleged infidelity with R&B singer August Alasina.

"His wife was f*cking her son's friend. Now, I normally would not talk about this sh*t. But for some reason [they] put [it] on the internet. I have no idea why two talented people would do something that lowdown... We all been cheated on. None of us ever been interviewed by the person that cheated on us on television."

He continued spilling the piping hot tea on the incidents leading up to the slap.

"I tried to call [Will] and give him my condolences—he ain't pick up for me... Everybody called him a b*tch. They called his wife a predator... And who does he hit? Me. [Someone] he knows he can beat."

Rock also rejected the characterisation of the incident with Smith as fighting, saying: “First of all, I know you can’t tell on camera but Will Smith is significantly bigger than me. We are not the same size. Will Smith does movies with his shirt off. You ain’t never seen me do a movie with my shirt off. I’m in a movie getting open-heart surgery, I’ve got on a sweater."

“Will Smith played Muhammad Ali in a movie. Do you think I auditioned for that part? He played Muhammad Ali, I played Pookie in New Jack City.”

He then called Will a coward, but in less savoury terms.

Rock's target soon shifted altogether to Jada: "Years ago, she said I should quit the Oscars. I shouldn't host because her man didn't get nominated."

You can catch up on that whole other story here, but basically, she tried to kick Rock out of the Oscars' host club because Will didn't get nominated for "Concussion".

"She starts it, I finish it, okay? That's what happened. Nobody's picking on [Jada]. She started [the beef]. Nobody was picking on her. She said me, a grown-ass man, should quit his job because her husband didn't get nominated. And then [Will] gives me a concussion."

Not quite done with Will yet, Rock took one last dig at his latest feature film that the actor claimed was his hardest to make yet.

"He made some great movies. I have rooted for Will Smith my whole life. And now I watch 'Emancipation' just to see him get whipped."

Responding to those who asked why he did not retaliate that night, Rock had this to say before dropping the mic.

He said: "Cause I got parents. Because I raised, okay? You know what my parents taught me? Don't fight in front of white people."

The slap heard around the world

In case you need a little refresher, here's some background on the infamous slap.

There were three major parties involved:

1. Chris Rock. Makes people laugh for a living. Announced the nominees of 2022 Best Documentary Feature.
2. Will Smith. There for a 'King Richard' nomination and probably just because he was Will Smith.
3. Jada Pinkett Smith. Actress and talk show host. Also Will Smith's wife.

During his announcement, Rock's jokes stumbled upon forbidden territory.

He commented on Jada's shaved head, saying, "Jada, I love you. 'G.I. Jane 2', can't wait to see it, all right?"

Jada had previously begun shaving her head after being diagnosed with alopecia areata.

As the comedian laughed, Will walked onstage and slapped him.

Will then shouted, "Keep my wife's name out your f*cking mouth!"

Needless to say, the public was stunned.

How could Hollywood's beloved and stoic dad-figure, the creator of "chill beats to quarantine to", lose his cool to the petty impulse of a bitch slap?

Will later posted an apology on his YouTube.

After the incident, henceforth known as "The Slap", the Fresh Prince of Bel Air was promptly banned from attending the Academy Awards for a decade.

Guess this year's Oscars isn't gonna slap as much as the last.

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Top images via Robyn Beck Getty and Netflix Kirill Bichutsky