Chris Rock
A year after Will Smith smacked him on the Academy Awards stage, Chris Rock finally gave his rebuttal in a forceful stand-up special, streamed live on Netflix, in which the comedian bragged that he “took that hit like Pacquiao.”
Taylor Swift was up. Elon Musk was in, out, in and maybe out again. Tom Cruise was back. BTS stepped aside, and so did Serena Williams, and Tom Brady too — oops, scratch that.
Dave Chappelle asked the crowd at his comedy show to make some noise for the world’s richest man. They did — lots of boos were directed at Elon Musk.
After keeping the world at arm’s length for roughly two years, the entertainment world could finally get more personal again in 2022.
2022’s most notable quotations include a tart retort by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to a U.S. offer of help.
NEW YORK (AP) — In a year marked by unexpected winners and losers, television was keeping tabs.

A Hollywood star tarnished his image and that of the Oscars.
While filming “Emancipation,” Will Smith routinely drew inspiration from the words “sacred motivation” that were written on the front page of a script.
Chris Rock is going where no comedian has gone before — live on Netflix. The streaming giant said Thursday that Rock will be the first artist to perform on the company’s first-ever live, global streaming event.
Jimmy Kimmel is ready to host the Oscars again. The show’s producers announced Monday that the late-night talk show host will preside over March’s ceremony.
EUCLID, Ohio (AP) — A white police officer who fatally shot a Black driver during a struggle inside a car in 2017 must pay his family $4.4 million.
David O. Russell’s star-studded 1930s mystery “Amsterdam” flopped and the children’s book adaptation “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” debuted softly, allowing the horror thriller “Smile” to repeat atop the box office in U.S. and Canada theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday.
The stars appear one after the other — a banquet of talent, a glut of inventiveness — and yet nothing clicks. Hollywood’s most famous squirm in a slog.
After holding “Emancipation” in limbo following Will Smith’s slap of Chris Rock at the Academy Awards in March, Apple will release the actor’s next big project in December.
Sidney Poitier was not expected to live. He was born two months premature to uneducated tomato farmers in the Caribbean.
Tom Ford closed New York Fashion Week on Wednesday with a starry front row and a runway full of big hair, disco cowgirls and sequins for miles.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Emmy Awards host Kenan Thompson and the ceremony’s producers are predicting a conflict-free zone, unlike the Oscars show that was marred by an on-stage slap.
Bill Kramer has been thinking about the future of the Oscars since he was named CEO of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences earlier this summer.
The MTV Video Music Awards later this month will have not one emcee but three, with rap stars LL Cool J, Nicki Minaj and Jack Harlow all set to anchor the ceremony.
Producer Janet Yang has been elected the 36th president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The group’s board of governors made the announcement Tuesday.
Mo Ostin, a self-effacing giant of the music business who with rare integrity presided over Warner Bros. Records’ rise to a sprawling, billion-dollar empire, has died.
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — These are giddy times in Atlanta and Houston.

The Falcons and the Texans have yet to lose a game and can talk boldly about defying the NFL skeptics, a group comprised of pretty much everyone outside their locker rooms.
Will Smith has again apologized to Chris Rock for slapping him during the Oscar telecast, saying in an online video that his behavior was “unacceptable.”
Actor Marlee Matlin, director Jason Reitman and producer Jason Blum are joining the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Mo’Nique and Netflix reportedly have settled her lawsuit that accused the streaming service of racial and sexual discrimination.
Jada Pinkett Smith turned her husband’s Oscar-night blowup into a teachable moment on “Red Table Talk,” her Facebook Watch show.
Millions of people around the world are affected by alopecia areata, an autoimmune disorder that causes hair loss and was thrown into the spotlight after actor Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars.
Jesse Williams vowed not to be discouraged after leaked video and images of his onstage nude scene in the Broadway play “Take Me Out” were posted online.
Next year’s Academy Awards will take place March 12. The date for the 95th Academy Awards moves the show up slightly from this year, when they where held unusually late on March 27, partly due to the February Olympics.
Los Angeles County prosecutors say the man who tackled comedian Dave Chappelle during a performance at the Hollywood Bowl will not be charged with any felonies.
Comedian Dave Chappelle was tackled during a performance at the Hollywood Bowl on Tuesday night and a man was later arrested.
Kris Jenner became emotional Friday while recalling a volatile 2016 argument she heard about between her son Rob Kardashian and his then-girlfriend Blac Chyna that traumatized him.