i don’t think he can decline to press charges- these days if it is witnessed- cops have to arrest I think-
Years ago we were watching the show where they did ice mining for gold- and the folks were i n a bar, and a supposed fight broke out- i watched it and saw one of the fellas slam a glass into the face (supposedly) of another fella- heard the ‘glass break’ but saw that the glass didnt’ actually break- so i rewound it- went frame by frame- and sure enough the glass did Not hit his face, nor did it break, but they dubbed in the sound of glass breaking, and the fella reeled backwards as though mike tyson had hit him- The frame by frame video clearly showed he didn’t hit the fellas face-
also- the fella that supposedly broke the glass was never arrested- despite tons of witnesses to the supposed fight- Several ‘punches’ were thrown, and not one of them connected- yet you heard all kinds of ‘punches landing’
That's what I always believed, too. But, there's a news story quoting the LAPD as stating Chris Rock declined to press charges.
We can't trust anything we see on TV or video. There's reason to be skeptical. The reality shows aren't real, either.
But, watching the way Smith behaved and Chris reacted, I don't think it was planned.