Joe Rogan recently sat down with actor Jon Bernthal on his podcast, and the two briefly discussed “the slap heard round the world” when Will Smith infamously slapped comedian and Oscars host Chris Rock live during last year’s 94th awards ceremony. Rock had made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, referring to her short haircut, which Jada has stated to be a side effect of her alopecia. “Jada, I love you. ‘G.I. Jane 2,’ can’t wait to see you,” Rock had said on stage just before Smith marched up to him and slapped him across the face. He then cursed out the comedian as he returned to his seat. 

In speaking about the incident, Joe Rogan stated he had changed his stance from never forgiving Smith for his actions and said, “Now thinking about [it], I’m like, that guy has to be forgiven. Like, he clearly has deep remorse for what he’s done.” He went on to say that Smith is “a human being” and that, ultimately, it’s up to Chris Rock to forgive Smith’s actions. Rogan, who has also done stand-up, was only one of a large group of comedians who were critical of the slap when it occurred and the fact that the Oscars allowed Smith to remain the rest of the show to accept his Best Actor reward for King Richard. “Let me tell you something, it’s a very bad practice to walk up on stage and physically assault a comedian. Now we all have to worry about who wants to be the next Will Smith in comedy clubs and theaters,” comedian Kathy Griffin wrote on her Twitter after the incident. Comedian Wanda Sykes, who has hosted the Oscars in the past, criticized the way the situation was handled by the Academy and has stated she will not return to host the show. “It was sickening,” she said of seeing the incident. “I physically felt ill. I’m still a little traumatized by it. And for them to let him stay in that room and enjoy the rest of the show and accept his award, I was like, ‘How gross is this? This is just the wrong message.’ You assault somebody, you get escorted out of the building, and that’s it. For them to let him continue, I thought it was gross.”

Smith has publicly apologized for the incident multiple times, with the actor telling late-night host Trevor Noah, “I just lost it.” In a letter to the Academy, Smith wrote, “Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear emotionally. I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line, and I was wrong. I am embarrassed, and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.” For his part, Rock has remained mostly silent on the incident, referencing the incident occasionally during his stand-up. He has not yet publicly accepted the apology, nor has there been any indication that the two celebrities have spoken since. 

Smith also continues to experience backlash from the event, having been banned from the Oscars for 10 years. His film, Emancipation, which came out months after the slap, bombed at the box office, and he was snubbed from a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of a slave seeking freedom. Many have speculated the film’s failure to be due to audiences still harboring ill will towards the star and studios labeling him “kryptonite.” It remains to be seen how long Smith may wear the albatross of the slap around his neck, but for Rogan, at least, he seems ready to let the past heal.