Chris Rock Turns Down Golden Globes Hosting Gig as Jada Pinkett Smith Claims Marriage to Will Smith Was Saved By 2022 Oscars ‘Holy Slap’

The buzz surrounding the announcement of the 2024 Golden Globe Awards nominees is growing louder, and so are talks of who will host the ceremony now that Chris Rock has added his name to the list of actors to decline the offer.

Comedienne Ali Wong and trio Will Arnett, Sean Hayes, and Jason Bateman were all presented with the opportunity too. CNN Entertainment confirmed through a source that show organizers reached out to Rock about the Jan. 7 event. The comic also turned down a first chance to emcee the awards last year.

Chris Rock turns down 2024 Golden Globe hosting gig as Jada Pinkett Smith says Oscars ‘holy slap’ saved marriage to Will Smith. (Photos: @Chrisrock/Instagram; @Willsmith/Instagram.)

Rock rep has not offered a reason behind the decision; however, news of it comes as social media continues to react to headlines regarding Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith’s marriage.

The “New Jack City” actor’s last appearance on an awards show occurred at the 2022 Oscars. The 58-year-old was famously slapped when he cracked a joke making a mockery of Pinkett Smith’s appearance after she shaved her head amid a reported ongoing struggle with alopecia.

The actress, who has been promoting her memoir “Worthy,” revealed months after the incident that she and Smith attended the show together as family and that they had been separated for seven years and that Rock previously asked her on a date. The slap, however, changed her perspective on their relationship status.

“I nearly didn’t even attend the Oscars that year, but I’m glad I did,” she told The Daily Mail’s You magazine. The Hollywood star added that she has also found the silver lining of the controversy that saw her endlessly slammed by critics online. “I call it the ‘holy slap’ now because so many positive things came after it.”

She continued, “That moment of the s—t hitting the fan is when you see where you really are…After all those years trying to figure out if I would leave Will’s side, it took that slap for me to see I will never leave him. Who knows where our relationship would be if that hadn’t happened?”

Reactions to the new statements have proven that fans’ frustrations over the various scandals have not boiled over. One person wrote, “RUINED his career but saved your marriage? Congrats lol.”

Others commented, “I never cared about that slap, but if I was Chris I’d be pissed to hear it referred to as the ‘holy slap”’” and “She saw more of PAC in Will that day and it extended the marriage an additional 10 years.”

While Pinkett Smith has her sights refocused on her husband of 26 years, spectators have questioned if the “King Richard” Oscar winner shares the same feelings. He was recently spotted around town in Miami with a mystery woman, who, like his wife, has embraced the shaved head look.