A year after Will Smith smacked him on the Academy Awards stage, Chris Rock finally gave his rebuttal in a forceful stand-up special, streamed live on Netflix, in which the comedian bragged that he 鈥渢ook that hit like Pacquiao.鈥�
The 58-year-old comedian on Saturday night performed his first stand-up special since last year鈥檚 Oscars. 鈥淐hris Rock: Selective Outrage,鈥� streamed live from the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, marked Netflix鈥檚 first foray into live streaming.
Rock, performing in all white and with a Prince medallion around his neck, immediately touched on last year鈥檚 Oscars while riffing on 鈥渨okeness,鈥� hypersensitivity and what he called 鈥渟elective outrage.鈥�
鈥淵ou never know who might get triggered,鈥� said Rock. 鈥淎nybody who says words hurt hasn鈥檛 been punched in the face.鈥�
But Rock then launched into a series of wide-ranging topics examining contemporary issues, including virtue signaling, high-priced yoga pants, the Duchess of Sussex, the Kardashians, abortion rights, the Capitol riot and what he called America鈥檚 biggest addition: Attention.
鈥淲e used to want love, now we just want likes,鈥� said Rock.
Rock, who also riffed on how he鈥檇 respond if his father transitioned to a woman (he would support him, Rock said), made his clear 鈥淪elective Outrage鈥� was not going to be just a Will Smith show. Only occasionally did Rock鈥檚 material dovetail with the 2022 Oscars, like it did when Rock joked about the oddity of Snoop Dogg becoming such a venerated pitch man for advertisers.
鈥淚鈥檓 not dissing Snoop,鈥� said Rock. 鈥淭he last thing I need is another mad rapper.鈥�
But an hour into his set, Rock closed the special with a torrent of material about the infamous Academy Awards moment.
鈥淵ou all know what happened to me, getting smacked by Suge Smith. Everybody knows,鈥� Rock said. 鈥淚t still hurts. I got `Summertime鈥� ringing in my ears.鈥�
While Smith has apologized and repeatedly spoken about the incident since last March, Rock has avoided all the usual platforms where celebrities often go to air their feelings. He never sat down with Oprah Winfrey, and turned away the many media outlets that would have loved to land an exclusive in-depth interview.
鈥淚鈥檓 a not a victim, baby,鈥� said Rock. 鈥淵ou will never see me on Oprah or Gale crying. You will never see it. Never going to happen.鈥�
But Rock did use his encounter with Smith to shape and enliven his second stand-up special for Netflix. Some of his best material was on their physical differences.
鈥淲e are not the same size. This guy does movies with my shirt off,鈥� said Rock. 鈥淵ou will never see me do a movie with my shirt off. If I鈥檓 in a movie getting open-heart surgery, I got on a sweater.鈥�
鈥淗e played Muhammed Ali,鈥� added Rock. 鈥淚 played Pookie in `New Jack City.鈥濃��
Ultimately, Rock suggested he was just caught in the crossfire in Smith鈥檚 relationship with his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. It was a joke that Rock told about Pinkett Smith that prompted Smith to stride on stage and strike Rock. The comedian on Saturday referenced Pinkett Smith鈥檚 earlier confessions of having an 鈥渆ntanglement鈥� with another man while married.
鈥淚 did not have any entanglements,鈥� said Rock. 鈥淪he hurt him way more than he hurt me.鈥�
鈥淚 love Will Smith,鈥� added Rock. 鈥淣ow I watch `Emancipation鈥� just to see him get whooped.鈥�
Before dropping his microphone and holding his arms up triumphantly, Rock left the crowd with one last zinger. Rock said the reason why he didn鈥檛 physically retaliate at the Oscars was because 鈥淚 got parents.鈥�
鈥淎nd you know what my parents taught me?鈥� he said. 鈥淒on鈥檛 fight in front of white people.鈥�
Netflix added pre- and post-show bookends of star-studded live programming with, as host comedian Ronny Chieng said, 鈥渆very comedy legend who owes Netflix a favor.鈥� Bono lent a opening introduction. Dana Carvey and David Spade hosted the after-show. Paul McCartney, Tracy Morgan, Adam Sandler, Jerry Seinfeld and one of last year鈥檚 Oscar hosts, Wanda Sykes, all added pre-taped messages. Arsenio Hall guaranteed Rock鈥檚 set would cause Smith to smack his television set.
For much of the past year, Rock has been touring new material in a long string of performances as part of his Ego Death tour. The shows, which had been announced before the 2022 Oscars, have featured performances with Dave Chappelle and Kevin Hart.
On the road, Rock has often worked in jokes and reflections on the slap. Rock first broke his public silence about the slap three nights after the Oscar ceremony, last year in Boston. 鈥淗ow was your weekend?鈥� he asked the crowd. He added that he was 鈥渟till kind of processing what happened.鈥�
After plenty of processing, Rock retook the cultural spotlight just a week before the March 12 Oscars, where the slap is sure to revisited by this year鈥檚 host, Jimmy Kimmel. In the aftermath of last year鈥檚 events, Smith resigned his membership to the film academy. The academy board of governors banned Smith from the Oscars and all other academy events for a decade.
At the annual luncheon for nominees held last month, motion picture academy president Janet Yang voiced regret about how the incident was handled, calling the academy鈥檚 response 鈥渋nadequate.鈥� Bill Kramer, the academy鈥檚 chief executive, has said the academy has since instituted a crisis communications team to prepare for and more rapidly respond to the unexpected.
鈥淪elective Outrage鈥� is Rock鈥檚 second special for Netflix, following 2018鈥檚 鈥淭amborine.鈥� They鈥檙e part of a two-special $40 million deal Rock signed with the streamer in 2016.
As new as the live 鈥淪elective Outrage鈥� was for Netflix, it was hard not to notice a few familiar things about it.
鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to give it to the tech companies for inventing something that existed for decades,鈥� said Chieng. 鈥淲e鈥檙e doing a comedy show on Saturday night 鈥� live. Genius.鈥�
鈥斺赌斺赌�
By Jake Coyle
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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