Michael Kovac/AMA2016/Getty Images; Steve Granitz/FilmMagic; Kirill Bichutsky/Netflix
August Alsina says he has yet to watch Chris Rock’s stand-up special, in which the comedian called out the singer’s relationship with Jada Pinkett Smith.
After a report from The New York Post claimed, citing a source, that Alsina, 30, was watching Chris Rock: Selective Rebellion and thought it was “not only funny, but truthful,” a rep for the singer denied that he’s even seen the special.
“This is a lie. Mr. Alsina has not seen Chris Rock’s special at all as he has been busy on tour,” his rep said Entertainment tonight. (Reps for Alsina did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.)
At the end of his extensive live comedy routine Saturday night on Netflix, Rock, 58, addressed the 2022 Oscars and took aim at Will Smith and Jada’s marriage. At one point he said: “His wife was dating his son’s friend,” as the audience laughed, referring to Jada’s previous “entanglement” with Alsina while on break with husband Will, 54.
Back in July 2020, Jada, now 51, opened up about having a relationship with singer Alsina years ago. She explained at the time that she and Will were eventually able to repair their relationship, saying, “We’ve really come to that new place of unconditional love.” The couple, who married in 1997, did an episode of Jada’s Red Table Talk show to discuss the situation.
In addition, Will said in a March 2022 interview with Gayle King that there “has never been infidelity in our marriage. Never. Jada and I talk about everything and we’ve never surprised each other with anything ever.”
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Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty; David Livingston/Getty Chris Rock; Will and Jada Pinkett Smith
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Alsina first met Jada in 2015 at her son Jaden and daughter Willow’s concert in London, and they struck up a friendship. She then helped him through a battle with addiction, and the friendship eventually turned romantic. After he and Jada broke up, Alsina kept quiet about their relationship until 2020, when he told radio host Angela Yee that he “really and really, really, deeply loved” her.
He later told PEOPLE that he never intended to “cause trouble” for the Smiths, whom he says he has “deep respect for,” and he has no regrets about sharing his truth: “I’m always going to be in the driver’s seat of my life and control my narrative. I can’t let someone else do that for me.”
Of Rock’s stand-up, a source close to Jada told PEOPLE this week that she “has had no part in all of this other than being hooked,” and Rock “is obsessed with her and has been for almost 30 years. The source added that they were “shocked at how many times Chris used the word bitch when referring to Jada” in the comedy routine.
“Right now, Jada is focused on her book coming out this year,” the source concluded.
RELATED VIDEO: Chris Rock Skewers Will and Jada Pinkett Smith Entanglement Drama: “She Hurt Him Way More Than He Hurt Me”
IN Selective outragenow streaming on Netflix, Rock said of the Oscar snub: “Anyone who really knows knows I had nothing to do with that s—. I had no ‘entanglements.'”
“We’ve all been scammed. Everybody in this business has been scammed,” Rock joked. “None of us have ever been interviewed by the person who cheated on us on TV. None of us… Why on earth would you do that s—? She hurt him a lot more than he hurt me, okay?”
Since last year’s Oscar incident, Will has publicly apologized for the outburst and resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which also banned him from attending the events for 10 years.
Paras Griffin/Getty Images; Kirill Bichutsky/Netflix
Jada addressed the Oscar moment during an episode of Red Table Talk back in June, saying her “deepest hope is that these two intelligent, capable men have an opportunity to heal, talk this out and reconcile.”
Then, in July, Will shared a video apology on social media, shedding more light on that night and explaining that he has been trying to reach out to Rock. (He also talked about the Oscars while on a press tour for Liberation in November, including an emotional interview with Trevor Noah on The Daily Show.)
Will said in his video: “I’ve contacted Chris and the message that came back is that he’s not ready to talk and when he is, he’ll reach out. So I want to say to you, Chris, I’m sorry to you. My behavior was unacceptable and I’m here when you’re ready to talk.”
