Chris Rock refuses to host next Oscars

Hollywood actor and comedian Chris Rock publicly confirmed this week that he turned down the Academy’s offer to host next year’s Oscars following Will Smith’s famous slap, DEADLINE reports.

The college did not respond to a request for comment.

DEADLINE first reported the Academy's proposal in June. Chris Rock previously hosted the Oscars twice, in 2005 and 2016.

Chris Rock made the announcement last night (August 29) at the Arizona Financial Theater in downtown Phoenix. He also said that he was also invited to film a Super Bowl commercial, but turned it down.

According to the Arizona Republic, Rock also joked that hosting the Oscars next year would be like asking Nicole Brown Simpson to "go back to that restaurant."

"He's way bigger than me," Rock said of Smith. "The state of Nevada will not approve a boxing match between me and Will Smith." (Most boxing matches in the United States are held in Nevada.)

Rock said during a Madison Square Garden performance in June that he almost immediately stopped caring about the beating by Smith. "I'm not a victim," he said. "Yeah, it hurt. But I forget about it the next day when I'm at work. I don't go to the hospital over a paper cut."