this is "nightline." >> tonight, chris rock strikes back. >> y'all know what happened to me, getting smacked by shook smith. >> the legendary comedian delivers his long-awaited response to that infamous slap. >> i got smacked at the [ bleep ] oscars by this [ bleep ]. >> his live netfl "selective outrage". >> chris rock played the long game, and he got the last words. >> but did he go too far? >> mean spirited,

>> is the drama over? plus, social scrutiny, the threat to young users. depression skyrocketing to teens getting hooked. >> a lot of these social media apps are designed to keep you on there. when it comes to kids, how early is too early, and how much the too much. >> thoughtful regulation was needed for big tobacco. i think thoughtful regulation is appropriate here as well. >> what's the best way to keep them safe? >> announcer: "nightline" will be right back. just between us, you know what's better than mopping? anything! ugh. well, i switched to swiffer wetjet, and it's awesome. it's an all-in-one, that absorbs dirt and grime deep inside. and it helps prevent streaks and haze. wetjet is so worth it. love it, or your money back. when you find your reason to go on, let it pull you past the doubt. past the pain, and past your limits. no matter what, we go on. biofreeze

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good evening. thank you for joining us. i'm trevor ault. with the oscars less than a week away, that notorious slap is back in the headlines. comedian chris rock delivered plenty of verbal punches to will smith and his wife in a film viewed by millions. >> i took that hit. >> almost a year after actor will smith slapped him on stage at the oscars, saturday night comedian chris rock hit back hard. >> y'all know what happened to me, getting smacked by shook smith.

everybody knows i got summertime ringing in my ears. >> reporter: rock performing in baltimore at his sold-out show titled "selective outrage" for the first show ever streamed live on netflix. >> i'm going to try to do a show tonight without offending nobody. >> i'm excited to hear his perspective. >> reporter: fans anticipating for months whether he would forgive and forget about being assaulted by smith or go on the offensive and releash his revenge. in the closing minutes, rock revealed his answer. >> nobody's picking on this [ blee [ bleep ] they started this [ bleep ]. a lot of people asked me why didn't you fight back. i got parents, and they told me don't fight in front of white people. >> he's entitled to say his truth. i'm happier he's making money out of it. i think the show was funny as

hell. >> this is exactly what i was expected from chris rock where he makes everyone uncomfortable. >> reporter: others thought it was vicious. >> mean saying my parents raised me moments after you call someone's wife the b word to a global audience. >> reporter: this is the first time most of the public is hearing from rock after the incident at last year's awards. >> oh, wow. wow. >> reporter: when some say he crossed the line as the oscars presenter joking about will smith's wife jada's shaved head. >> jada, i love you, g.i. jane two, can't wait to see it. >> jane who has alopecia that

resulted in hair loss has shared her struggle with her followers on instagram. >> this is going to be more difficult for me to hide. >> and on her show, talk". >> i was in the shower one day, and just handfuls of hair in my hands. i was like, oh, my god, am i going bald. >> keep my wife's name out your [ bleep ] mouth. >> wow, dude. >> yes. >> it was a g.i. jane joke. >> reporter: rock has said he didn't know about jada's condition at the time. >> chris rock's joke was sexist. it absolutely was. whenever you go on stage and make fun of women's appearances, you're dabbling in when we tell the final story of his oscar win, and that night, you'll never be able to

disconnect that vikt rehe finally achieved from one of his worst mistakes. >> reporter: the next day, smith did take to instagram and apologize. violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. my behavior was unacceptable. >> i will say to you, chris, i apologize to you. my behavior was unacceptable. >> reporter: months later, will smih also issued an apology on his social media platform. >> there's no part of me that thinks that's the optimal way to handle a feeling of disrespect or insults. i've reached out to c that he's not ready to talk.s - and when he is, he will reach out. >> reporter: with jada weighing

in on red table talk. >> my deepest hope is these two intelligent capable men have an opportunity to heal, talk this out, and reconcile. >> will smith has apologized.ph. he fed into the worst narratives about what it means to be black and male in this country, ego, machoness. >> reporter: still, the hurt and humiliation felt by rock seemed palpable saturday night. >> i got smacked at the [ bleep ] oscars by this [ bleep ]. people are like, did it hurt, it still hurts. >> chris rock played the long game and got the last word, and those words were hilarious. >> reporter: standup comedians saying his words were about taking back his agency. >> when something bad happens to you, you get to handle it however you want as long as you're not hurting people.

i had this live moment that was out of my control that was humiliating for me. now i'm going to make another live show that everybody's going to watch giving me the power again. >> reporter: she's had her own experience at getting attached on stage when a heckler in the audience through a beer can at her. she said rules go out when jokes and commentary are met with violence. >> if we're afraid to talk about a topic because we're afraid to get attacked, it's going to take longer as a society to move forward. comedians are ones who drive the conversations. if we're afraid of taking on that task, where does that leave everybody else? we're going to stay stuck for a long time. >> reporter: so chris rock had the opportunity to teach us all a lesson in grace. instead, he gave us a lesson

this is what revenge looks like. >> and it's not a dish best served cold. sometimes you kill them with kindness. >> reporter: he watched the netflix special live saturday night. >> i will always look at this as a squandered opportunity to chris rock to take the higher road and teach us all a lesson in forgiveness. i think getting personal, talking about marriages, infidelity issues, granted, they are out publicly about that, but it's still a bit of a low blow. i think calling her the b word was inappropriate. >> reporter: since the slap, rock has been chris crossing the country on tour. jokes about smith have been hard to come by, adding to the mystery of the netflix show. >> the best clubs allow you not to bring your phone out of

pocket at least during a performance. it also forces us to be present and in the moment. if you don't even have your phone on you, you're forced to look at what is in front of you and experience the energy that we're trying to create. >> reporter: after month of being away from the spotlight, last november, smith sat down with trevor noah to promote his latest film on apple tv plus, "emancipation." >> what has it been like for you? >> that was a horrific night as you can imagine. i guess the thing that was most painful for me is i took and made it harder for other people. >> about an escaped slave. smith also receiving an ncaap award for the same role and earning an african-american critics association award just last week. >> i want to thank you all in

the room for what you do, for keeping our stories alive. >> reporter: but on saturday night in baltimore, chris' role became even for foughter for rock's wrath. >> i watched emancipation just to see him get whooped. hit him again, massa. >> reporter: as for rock and whether ones found the rebuttal cringe worthy or genius, one fact is undeniable, chris rock can laugh all he wants to all the way to the bank. netflix paid him reportedly $40 million. do you think fs coincidence this came the weekend before the oscars? >> coincidence? no. it's the per if he can lead in coming before the oscars, especially the weekend before was a great opportunity. >> reporter: opportunity or simply the latest round in a celebrity feud few saw coming.

for years, chris rock and will smith enjoyed squeaky clean, good guy images. one year, one slap, one special later, both men lost something humble humility and hard humor have yet to restore. >> i don't think chris rock wants to dwell on this. my guess is he doesn't want to talk about this anymore, because my guess is he didn't want to in the first place but had to. it will be interesting to see if will smith can take this on the chin and let it go the same way chris rock took the slap on the chin. >> you can watch the 95th academy awards this sunday night on abc. coverage starts at 1:00 p.m. eastern. coming up, social media scrutiny. what's the best way to protect young users? ♪ things are looking up ♪ ♪ i've got symptom relief ♪

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you can choose your doctor who works with other best-in-class specialists to care for all that is you. it's a question that more and more parents are asking, how to protect children from the dangers of social media, especially from getting hooked. now many are trying to provide answers, including congress, but how will the tech squigiants respond? >> a lot of these apps are designed to keep you on there. >> reporter: it's a worry for almost every parent. >> is social media bad for teens. >> if it can change activity in the brain, can it change behavior. >> it often does a disservice to

children. >> reporter: when it comes to social media, how early is too early, and how much is too much? are you addicted? >> i don't want to say addicted, but i'm on it a lot. >> i agree with that. >> reporter: ucla students are studying digital media and human development, which has made them more aware of their own social media habits. how do you stay away from the stuff that doesn't make you feel good? >> sometimes it's hard to, but i like to think, oh, it's fake. don't worry. take the good from it and utilize that. >> the doom scrolling. i have a lot of mindfulness reminders on my phone, so i'm like is this something you want to be doing, and sometimes i'm like, yeah, i just need to chill out. that's all that nieds to happen right now. >> reporter: research on how social media develops minds raises concerns.

the surgeon general stating most sites let people join too early at age 13. and a new study finding that reducing social media use by just 50% for a few weeks significantly improves body image among teens and young adults. this as the big tech increased scrutiny. a senate judiciary committee heard from advocates seeking online regulations. >> as my screen time increased, my mental health suffered. the quantification of my worth through likes, comments and followers heightened my anxiety and deepened my depression. >> reporter: the popular social media site under scrutiny for its alleged tied to the chinese

government as more universities and government agencies ban the app. tiktok strongly denies claims it shares data with china and is trying to distance itself from the chinese-based company. >> social media doesn't have to be this negative toxic thing but can be positive and contributes to better outcomes and being. >> reporter: the pintrest ceo saying social media used ai to create big tobacco. should it come with a warning label? >> i think consumers need to have more understanding of what content they're being shown. used to be posts from your friends or pictures from your friends. and over time, it was more what the ai was deciding to show you. >> reporter: some other young users are taking matters into their own hands, as depicted in

the hbo film, "hacked". >> i need a dumb phone, basically a brick. >> reporter: this college student sharing on tiktok how she switched to a flip phone part time. >> everything that leads to us crying or having a bad time stems from our phone. >> reporter: she's a 23-year-old buzz feed news reporter who tried using a flip phone for a week. >> i think i wanted to gain a sense of being more connected i also wanted to cut down on nd- screen time. >> reporter: he went for 30 days on a flip phone. >> the first 20 hours were super tough. you don't realize how much you use your iphone. >> reporter: but then, they soon noticed the benefits. >> all the things i was putting aside for a very long time, i had the ability to do once i got rid of my phone. >> it felt like my day was more boring because i had less

superfi superficial dopamine to fill it with, but then there was peace and quiet. >> reporter: and for families, professor at ucla has some advice. >> adults should be looking at their own behavior. if you're on your phone 24/7, your child is going to want to do that. >> what were those parameters? >> when your child feels like they can come to you and you're not going to freak out on them or take the media away, you're going to actually listen and help them naf dpat the situation, that's going to be really, really good for your child. >> our thanks to rebecca. coming up, sara ferguson, what the duchess of york has to say about the scandal surrounding her former husband,

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finally tonight, a preview of "nightline" coanchor's interview with sarah ferguson, the duchess of work, what she says about her ex-husband prince andrew, their bond, and the sexual assault allegations. >> in what ways have you been able to be there for him, and what's it like watching him go through this public scrutiny? >> so sad. we have been there for each other when i've gone through really bad times in the past,

andrew's always been there. he is exceptionally kind, and he is a very seriously good grandfather. he's very steadfast for the girls. we are women that also have had to see an extraordinary demise of a very strong man, and that has been really difficult to see. >> you can watch juju's entire interview right here tomorrow night. you can watch all of our episodes on hulu. thanks for staying up with us. good night, america.