It was one of the most shocking moments in the history of the Academy Awards - and if you were Chris Rock, it was one of the most humiliating, too.
The comedian has since made jokes at the expense of both himself and the man who slapped him, Will Smith, but it seems that the ramifications of the slap have had a lasting effect on Rock.
According to comedian Leslie Jones, a friend of Rock's, he attended counselling with his family to deal with the impact of the slap being seen by millions of people around the world.
"It really affected him," said Jones. "People need to understand his daughters, his parents, saw that. He had to go to counseling with his daughters."
She added: "For a long ass time I was just mad. Chris Rock did a fucking joke. I know Will, too… I was like, you couldn’t handle that shit afterwards. This is the Oscars. The whole world is watching. I was like, ‘Chris, when he got up why didn’t you run?’ I would’ve been running around that stage like, ‘Will, calm down. Jada, call your man!'"
However, Jones was supportive of Rock discussing the incident during his Netflix special, 'Selective Outrage', when he said "I got smacked like a year ago… and people are like, ‘Did it hurt?’ It still hurts. I got ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ears", and criticised Smith for his double standards.
"Everybody got pissed off about him doing a special," said Jones. "That’s what comedians do. Instead of us going crazy we fucking go talk about it on the fucking stage. Thank God we’ve got the stage."
