EXCLUSIVE: Will Smith and Chris Rock secretly make peace after 'very personal' Oscars slap

Warring superstars Will Smith and Chris Rock have secretly reached a peace settlement after the infamous Oscar night slap which shocked the world, according to a pal of the pair.

Smith’s attack has been forgiven by comic Rock, after they both acknowledged that they had built up the issue over many years. The duo are said to have reached detente admitting “we’ve both crossed the line” - and moving forward are “good.”

That is the insight of the star pair’s mutual pal Cedric The Entertainer, who was shocked when Smith slapped the host after a joke about wife Jada during the 2022 ceremony. Cedric is proud of the truce, calling Smith “a solid human being”.

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The Neighborhood star concluded that Smith’s slap rather punch showed how “very personal” the animosity had become after years of taunts from Rock over the Hitch actor’s marriage for years.

Cedric feels Smith will bounce back in a huge way with the release of Bad Boys 4 in the next few weeks - his first significant release since the assault, which shocked the world. Cedric, speaking exclusively on camera to The Mirror US, said: “That was one of those times, it was a moment in time where you're dealing with something that's very personal and family. It got done in front of everybody else.

“But the thing about when something personal that happens, and I always say a smack is more personal than a punch. And so when someone smacks a person, you realise that something is very personal happening there. And that's what we didn't know as an audience."

He continued: "We only saw the result and then decided it was something. And that's what I was confident on. I was confident both of them understood what was happening at that moment and they got to get through it. And then we just saw a thing and we all reacted.

"But both Chris and Will are able to, in hindsight, realise ‘we’ve both crossed the line and like, you know what, you good, my man? Thank you. And we'll get through it.’ And that's the thing about life, man, we can react and we can look at things and then we turn ourselves into these all knowing of a situation because we watched it and thought we knew exactly what happened. That's not true."

Cedric opened up at The 17th Annual George Lopez Celebrity Golf Classic. He is excited for Bad Boys: Ride or Die, out within the month.

“Oh man, that's big. him and Martin, that's my guy, man," he went on. "So really we love those movies. They got a lot of action. We don't have a lot of African-American led action, action comedies, action movies in general.

"They shoot great action shots in those movies. It's always a lot of fun. It's big energy and those characters, Mike Lowry is so cool; so cool in his skin, we looking forward to it. Man's good back to the max. Yeah, man, definitely. I'm looking forward to it. And he's, he's really a solid human being."

Cedric spoke at the event, which helps 200 children suffering with kidney disease to a summer Kidney Disease & Transplant Camp. He also said is proud that CBS’ The Neighborhood remains one of the hottest TV comedies in its sixth season, especially as it delivers a more traditional family feel.

"When we started in the Neighborhood, we talked about how cynical everything was. All the TV shows had this snarkiness to 'em, everything had to have a bite. Everything was kind of really done with the intention of how can I upset the apple cart?

"And we were like, where is this opportunity where people can be, we can disagree, but still have this wonderful camaraderie with each other, learn about each other, laugh with each other. “And of course that's really missing in that eight o'clock hour when families are really the most together. It's just really great. And I'm glad that people are really inspired by it, love the show, and that it is motivating others to write shows like it."

Joker Lopez made fun of pal Cedric before tee-off as well as other stars like Smokey Robinson, Anthony Anderson DL Hughley and Tim Allen.

Lopez has raised millions to create positive, permanent change for underprivileged children, adults and military families confronting challenges in education and health, as well as increasing community awareness about kidney disease and organ donation.

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