Comedian and actor Chris Rock hopes to avoid getting caught up in another controversy involving Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. Over a year since the incident where the Oscar winner slapped him due to a joke about Jada, the comedian is reportedly frustrated that she continues to involve him in her and her estranged husband's public disputes. Jada has been actively promoting her upcoming memoir, "Worthy," through various interviews, as reported by aceshowbiz.com.
In one instance, she claimed that Rock once asked her out on a date as he mistakenly thought that she had separated from Will due to their divorce rumours.
Her comment reportedly frustrated Chris, who wants Jada to "keep his name out of her mouth."
A source told Daily Mail: "Chris hates that she keeps bringing it up and bringing up the other revelations about Chris asking her on a date and all of that."
"Chris has said his piece on the entire Will Smith slap, but now with these new revelations from Jada that her and Will have been living separate lives it is just another WTF moment in the whole saga from these past few years between Chris, her, and Will," the source added.
The informant says of the comedian: "He is a relatively private person and was just getting to a point where people may have started to move on, but now it is back in the limelight, and it's just frustrating that everything is coming back to the forefront."
The so-called insider added: "Chris is over it and would actually love for her to keep his name out of her damn mouth."
In a recent interview with PEOPLE, Jada said: "I think every summer all the reports would come out that me and Will were getting a divorce. And this particular summer, Chris, he thought that we were getting a divorce."
The mother of two recalled, "So he called me and basically he was like, 'I'd love to take you out.' And I was like, 'What do you mean?' He was like, 'Well, aren't you and Will getting a divorce?' I was like, 'No. Chris, those are just rumors.' He was appalled. And he profusely apologized and that was that."
In the same interview, the "Gotham" alum also revealed that she hasn't talked to Chris since Will slapped him at the 2022 Academy Awards and explained what she thinks might be the roots of the misunderstanding between them.
In another interview, Jada claimed that Will hadn't called her his "wife" before the Oscars incident.
Speaking to NBC's Hoda Kotb, she expressed her confusion when her estranged husband defended her against Chris' joke, "What is going on? Now, first of all, I'm really shocked. 'Cause, mind you, I'm not there. We haven't called each other husband or wife in a long time."
"I'm like, 'What is going on right now?' " Jada continued. " 'Keep my wife's name out of your mouth,' right? And now I'm really worried for Will, because I don't know what's going on."
(With IANS inputs)