1 Sep – Chris Rock was reported to have declined the invitation to host next year's Academy Awards. The comedian, who made headlines earlier this year after actor Will Smith physically assaulted him on the Oscar stage following his joke about the actor's wife Jada Pinkett, reportedly shared with his audiences at one of his comedy gigs about the offer. Rock compared accepting the hosting gig to returning to the scene of a crime, adding that going back would be like the 1995 murder trial of O.J. Simpson, and that it would be like asking the late Nicole Brown Simpson to "go back to the restaurant" where her mother had left a pair of glasses the night of her death.
It is noted that Smith has already been banned from the Oscars for ten years. He also recently apologised to Rock yet again via social media, before deciding to make his return online. Rock is no stranger to the Academy Awards, having hosted the ceremony twice in 2005 and 2016.