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Chris Rock<\/a>\u00a0set foot in La La Land this week just days ahead of the\u00a0<\/span>96th Academy Awards<\/a>\u00a0and, most notably, two years after\u00a0<\/span>Will Smith<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>slapped him onstage<\/a> at the Oscars.<\/span><\/p>\n The comedian’s whereabouts was first shared by singer <\/span>Melissa Etheridge<\/a>, who on Thursday took to X and posted the selfie she snapped. In her tweet she shared a bit of how the encounter went down. According to Etheridge, she went up to Rock and said, “Hello Chris, it’s Melissa Etheridge.”<\/span><\/p>\n Rock responded, “Melissa Mother F**king Etheridge!!!!”<\/span><\/p>\n She closed out her tweet saying, “my favorite intro.”<\/span><\/p>\n Former <\/span>Vanity Fair<\/span><\/em> columnist George Wayne also\u00a0<\/span>shared a photo on Instagram<\/a> showing a glimpse of the encounter.\u00a0According to <\/span>Page Six<\/em><\/a>, who was first to report Rock’s outing, the comedian was spotted outside the Sunset Marquis in West Hollywood around 3 p.m. on Thursday afternoon.<\/span><\/p>\n The outlet reported, citing a source, that Rock appeared “cheerful” and “ready to make the rounds.”<\/span><\/p>\n There’s no official word yet on whether Rock’s attending the Oscars or laying low on Sunday. As for Smith, <\/span>Page Six<\/span><\/em>\u00a0reported he’s busy in Miami filming <\/span>Bad Boys 4<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n Rock’s outing in Los Angeles just three days before the Oscars comes two years after Smith <\/span>slapped him<\/a> onstage live on television during the broadcast of the 2022 Academy Awards.<\/span><\/p>\n The slap occurred right after Rock made the joke, “Jada, I love ya.\u00a0<\/span>G.I. Jane 2<\/span><\/em>, can’t wait to see it,” which prompted the actress to roll her eyes at the joke. Moments later, after Rock quipped that that was “a nice [joke]” after being met with some uncomfortable reaction from the audience, he saw\u00a0<\/span>Smith make his way onto the stage<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Rock, who was chuckling, was then met with an open-handed slap to his cheek from Smith.<\/span><\/p>\n “Oh, wow,” he immediately reacted, as Smith walked offstage. The sound on the Oscars broadcast suddenly cut out after Rock said Smith’s name in reaction.\u00a0And as the camera panned back to the then-Oscar nominee, back at his seat, though there was no sound, you could clearly read what Smith shouted at Rock.<\/span><\/p>\n “Leave my wife’s name out of your f**king mouth,” Smith yelled back at the comedian.<\/span><\/p>\n Unsure how to proceed, Rock reacted, “That was the greatest night in the history of television,” which was captured through ABC’s telecast.<\/span><\/p>\n Smith later made a public apology for his actions, and he was <\/span>banned from all Academy Awards events<\/a> for 10 years.<\/span><\/p>\n The\u00a0<\/span><\/i>2024 Academy Awards<\/i><\/a>, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, airs live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 10, at 4 p.m. PT\/7 p.m. ET on ABC. Follow along at\u00a0<\/span><\/i>ETonline.com<\/i><\/a>\u00a0for full Oscars coverage, including red carpet arrivals, the complete winners list and more.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n RELATED CONTENT:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n