Selective Outrage: Chris Rock on Will Smith and Slapgate in Live Comedy Special for Netflix: “It Still Hurts”

Chris Rock on Will Smith and Slapgate in Live Comedy Special for Netflix: “It Still Hurts”

“I’m not a victim, baby,” the comedian said. “You will never see me on Oprah crying. It’s never gonna happen.”

He said that he doesn’t have problem with “wokeness” but isn’t a fan of the “selective outrage,” people who will listen to Michael Jackson but not R. Kelly: “same crime–one of them just got better songs.”

The comedian readdressed selective outrage during the last segment of his stand-up act when talking about Will Smith’s infamous Oscar slap.

“Will Smith practices selective outrage,” Rock explained. “Outrage because everybody knows what the fuck happened. Everybody that really knows, knows that I have nothing to do with that shit. I didn’t have any entanglements.”

“His wife was fucking her son’s friend. I normally would not talk about this shit, but for some reason, these n—-s put that shit on the internet. I have no idea why two talented people would do something that lowdown. What the fuck? And we’ve all been cheated on. Everybody in here has been cheated on. None of us have ever been interviewed by the person that cheated on us on television.”

Rock said that he’s still asked if it hurt: “Of course it fucking hurt. It still hurts, but I’m not a victim, baby. You will never see me on Oprah or Gayle crying. It’s never gonna happen. I took that hit like Pacquiao,” he said and the crowd cheered.

“She hurt him way more than he hurt me. Everybody in the world called him a bitch. I tried to call the motherfucker, I tried to call that man and give him my condolences, he didn’t pick up for me.” He continued by listing all the people who called Smith a “bitch” after that interview on Red Table Talk, including Charlamagne Tha God and The View. “Everybody called him a bitch, and who did he hit? Me — a n—a he knows he could beat. That is some bitch ass shit.”

This stemmed from years ago when Jada Pinkett Smith told Rock he should quit the Oscars after her husband wasn’t nominated for Concussion.

“She started this shit. She said that me, a fucking grown ass man, should quit his job because ‘My husband didn’t get nominated for Concussion,‘ and then this n—-a gives me a fucking concussion.”

Rock Selective Outrage to answer the question he’s gotten a lot since the Slap: Why didn’t you do anything back? “‘Cause I got parents,” Rock said. “‘Cause I was raised. And you know what my parents taught me? Don’t fight in front of white people.”

Rock touched on the opioid crisis and how America’s real addiction is attention, not drugs, and how, oftentimes, people who victimize themselves do it for attention. He used this moment to reference the Capitol Riots.

“Did you see the Capitol Riots? White men trying to overthrow the government that they run?” Rock said. “They’re like, ‘Damn, we gotta get them out of office.’ Who? Us? Did you see the Capitol Riots? What kind of white Planet of the Apes shit was that?”

He then rhetorically asked the crowd what would make white men think they’re losing the country because they’re not in commercials anymore? “There’s no Black couples either,” he said. “Every commercial has a mixed-race couple.”  He saw a commercial the other day where a Japanese woman was married to a caterpillar.

“Speaking of commercials, when did Snoop Dogg become Morgan Freeman?” Rock joked. “I saw commercial the other day where Snoop was selling reverse mortgages.” I’m not dissing Snoop. The last thing I need is another mad rapper,” he added, to cheers from the crowd.

“There’s a part of me that’s pro-life, OK? Because I’m definitely pro [my daughters’] lives,” he said. “But since I love my daughters unconditionally — I love them not just as little girls alone but as grown women — I want my daughters to live in  world where they have complete control of their bodies.”

The pre-show featured appearances from comics and Rock’s friends, including Amy Schumer and Jerry Seinfeld. The Daily Show‘s Ronny Chieng hosted the special, with Areseno Hall, Deon Cole and Leslie Jones also appearing.

Chieng kicked off the night live at Los Angeles’ Comedy Store, joking that the iconic comedy venue on the Sunset Strip. “I cannot emphasize how live things are today,” The Daily Show correspondent said. “We are live from two different locations simultaneously, Los Angeles and Baltimore. Why? For absolutely no reason. This is extremely expensive and difficult and irritating.”

The comedian also poked fun at how they’re doing a live comedy show on a Saturday night, a concept that has existed for decades, aka Saturday Night Live.

“Trust me. We won’t know this, but I bet you Will Smith slaps the fuck out of a TV tonight,” he joked. “He gon’ knock that motherfucker off the wall.”

Matthew McConaughey, Amy Schumer, Ali Wong, Woody Harrelson, Paul McCartney, Rosie Perez, Jimmy Fallon, Kevin Hart, Sarah Silverman, Ice-T, Adam Sandler and others wished Rock luck ahead of his live event.

Rock went live from Baltimore at 7 p.m. PT for the Selective Outrage special, his second special for Netflix, which will remain available to stream, but the pre- and post-shows won’t be.