Overview

• During the freestyle, Smith rapped, “If you talking crazy out your face up on the stage and disrespect me on the stage, expect me on the stage,” and added, “Jokers dish it out, cry foul when it’s time to take it.”
• Multiple outlets interpreted the bars as a direct reference to the moment he walked onstage and slapped host Chris Rock after a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s alopecia at the 2022 Academy Awards.
• The appearance follows nods to the incident on his March album Based on a True Story, marking an ongoing trend of Smith processing the controversy through music.
• Smith’s 2022 action prompted a public apology, his resignation from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and a 10-year ban from Oscars ceremonies.
• The renewed lyrical focus highlights continuing discussions about celebrity accountability and how public figures reckon with past controversies.