D.L. Hughley is pushing back against folks who say Chris Rock deserved to be slapped by Will Smith for making fun of Jada Pinkett Smith ... he finds the narrative extremely ironic.
The comedian ripped into The Root's Candace McDuffie, who went on CNN and claimed Chris had it coming after years of targeting Black women with his jokes, saying she's got it all twisted.
D.L. says Chris isn't punching down on marginalized women, as Candace believes, but rather making fun of celebs who put their business out in the streets ... he says it's all fair game.
The irony for D.L. ... Candace thinking the violent slap was justified while a comedic response goes too far, and everyone's allowed an opinion except for the man who actually got smacked in the face on live TV.
Like other comedians we've talked to -- Bill Bellamy, Donnell Rawlings, Jeff Ross and Jeff Dye -- D.L. tells us why Chris has every right to respond through his art, even if it's been a year since the Oscars incident.