Chris Rock

Meghan Markle's long-time friend Janina Gavankar was seen laughing while in attendance at Chris Rock's comedy special for Netflix as the comedian poked fun ...

They’re so racist, they wanted to know how brown the baby was going to be,’ I’m like, ‘That’s not racist,’ cause even black people want to know how brown the baby gonna be. “I’m like, ‘What the f**k is she talking about? She appeared on This Morning following the Sussex’s Oprah interview, stating that “recollections may vary”, following the royal family’s response to the couple’s claims. We check behind the ears. The comedian then joked that he knew what she was going through, adding: “I know her dilemma: Black girl trying to be accepted by her white in-laws.” Promoted Stories

There were, of course, Will Smith jokes in Chris Rock's new Netflix show. Here's what he said about the 2022 Oscars slap, plus all of the other highlights.

During the closing segment, Rock also responded to the vocal minority of people who bashed him for not retaliating in the moment. “Will Smith played Muhammad Ali in a movie. “Now, I watch Emancipation, just to see him get whupped.” “She hurt him way more than he hurt me,“ Rock said. Coming out to Baby Keem’s “Family Ties,” dressed in all white and commanding the stage with signature aplomb, Rock was clearly charged up. The comic also drew attention to the size disparity between himself and Smith, who is known for playing muscular action stars.

Meghan Markle: Close friend Janina Gavankar seen laughing at Chris Rock's Netflix special as he mocks Prince Harry and his wife.

I speak for myself." "So, she's happy for you to be talking today?" But I will say, I don't speak for them. And there are many emails and texts to support that." We watched the special together actually," Janina said. "I'm like, 'What …

During the set, he addressed Markle's interview with Oprah Winfrey that occurred in April 2021. In the interview, Markle and Prince Harry said that, while at ...

and [made a bold Oscars claim](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/chris-rock-netflix-show-jada-pinkett-smith-b2294395.html) about Smith’s wife, Matrix Reloaded star Jada Pinkett Smith. [here](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/south-park-prince-harry-meghan-markle-full-episode-b2290152.html). Rock claimed to know what Markle was “going through”, stating: “I know her dilemma: Black girl trying to be accepted by her white in-laws. He then quipped: “Meghan Markle, I know the dilemma. It’s so hard, it’s very hard– but it ain’t as hard as a white girl trying to be accepted by her Black in-laws. [Markle herself was left “upset”](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/south-park-meghan-markle-harry-b2286338.html) by its content. Like didn’t she hit the light-skinned lottery?” [denied reports that they were considering a lawsuit](https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/royal-family/south-park-harry-and-meghan-episode-lawsuit-b2287023.html), calling the speculation “nonsense”. [roasted Will Smith over the Oscars slap](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/chris-rock-netflix-special-will-smith-b2294386.html). During the set, he addressed Markle’s interview with Oprah Winfrey that occurred in April 2021. [rejected the idea](https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/royal-family/harry-royals-racist-oprah-meghan-b2258480.html) that he and his wife had [accused the royal family of racism](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/meghan-markle-race-archie-skin-baby-b1813761.html) during the Winfrey interview. [Sign up](https://amzn.to/3wUCpW9)

The father of tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams has broken his silence to defend Will Smith who smacked Chris Rock in the face at last year's ...

Yes it happened, I got smacked like a year ago." He said: "You all know what happened to me, getting smacked by Suge Smith. Matter of fact, I appreciate Mr Smith," he told Good Morning Britain.

Chris Rock took aim at Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith in his latest stand-up comedy special, "Selective Outrage" mocking the couple's public ...

The 81-year-old has broken his silence to defend Will Smith, who portrayed him in the Oscar-winning biopic King Richard, after the actor's infamous Oscars ...

In the process of that relationship I definitely realized that you can't find happiness outside yourself.' Why the f*** would you do that s***?' he asked, referring to a sit-down interview Jada gave Will in 2020. I have rooted for Will Smith my whole life and now I watch Emancipation just to see him get whooped. 'I love Will Smith, my whole life I loved this man - I watched him open for Run DMC at the Nassau Coliseum. That I what the f*** happened, OK. 'The outpouring for him from our family was initially about his health,' she told her husband. 'But for some reason these n****** put that shit on the Internet. He played Mohammed Ali, I played Pookie in New Jack City. Chris joked: 'Will Smith does most of his movies with his shirt off. 'Will Smith played Mohammed Ali in a movie, you think I auditioned for that part? Matter of fact, I appreciate Mr Smith.' And people are like "Did it hurt?"

The comedian made history this weekend as he performed Netflix's first ever live-streamed set on Saturday (4 March). Selective Orange contained a number of ...

Even in animated movies, I’m a zebra, he’s a f***ing shark. Another added: “Chris Rock thinks Will Smith played the shark in Shark Tale.” “I played Pookie [in 1991’s New Jack City].

The US comedian finally gave his rebuttal in the live-streamed special, Chris Rock: Selective Outrage.

“I have rooted for Will Smith my whole life. “Will Smith practices ‘Selective Outrage,‘” Rock explained. “I love Will Smith, my whole life… I got ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ears.” I played Pookie in New Jack City. “I got smacked like a year ago… “Will Smith played Muhammad Ali in a movie, you think I auditioned for that part? You’ve never seen me do a movie with my shirt off. Will Smith does movies with his shirt off. Everybody fucking knows,” he said. “You will never see me on Oprah or Gayle crying. You will never see it.

Save for the odd electric quip, the comedian's historic stand-up, arriving a year after the Oscars slap, featured joke constructions so familiar they're ...

Of course, Rock (and Netflix) know the reason why we’re here. And, save for a few moments of nervous tension, the live broadcast is as pre-heated as, well, airplane food. “I accept anyone,” he tells the crowd, adding: “In some situations, I prefer trans women to original recipe.” It’s a pointless detour – as much of a creative dead-end as it was for Dave Chapelle or Ricky Gervais – but one that is apparently mandatory in a show dealing with modernity. The relative mildness of Rock’s comedy is more manageable than some of the more tendentious performers who have graced Netflix in recent years, and always the spectre of the unexpected – that night at the Oscars – looms over this special. He tells the audience he’s “paid for more abortions than any woman in this room” and “paid off more college loans than Joe Biden”. The mood in the room switches from congratulatory to anticipatory; an edge creeps in and, thrillingly, Rock fluffs his lines, confusing the movies Concussion and Emancipation (easily done), a goof that requires him to reset a joke. For all that he touches upon subjects like the pro-life debate, opioid crisis and colonialism, Rock is not a particularly edgy comedian. [Netflix](/topic/netflix), and marked the first time the comic has spoken about the 94th Academy Awards at length. He gets rounds of applause for his daughter and mother, anxious murmurs [when he talks about Meghan Markle](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/chris-rock-netflix-meghan-markle-b2294393.html), and excited whispers when rappers, from Snoop Dogg to Jay-Z, are referenced. Comedians on stadium tours talking about the vexations of being mega rich has become the new “what’s the deal with airplane food?”. He knows who he is, and the audience does too. [Oscars](/topic/oscars).

The comedian made the comment during his live-streamed Netflix special Chris Rock: Selective Outrage.

“I loved Will Smith. I don’t need that smoke.” My whole life, I loved Will Smith. Everybody that really knows, knows that I have nothing to do with that shit. I have rooted for Will Smith my whole life. I tried to call him to give him my condolences, he didn’t pick up for me. Will Smith played Muhammad Ali in a movie, you think I auditioned for that part. Rock said: “She started this shit. She said that me, a grown ass man, should quit his job because her husband didn’t get nominated for Concussion, and then he gives me a concussion. “But I’m not a victim baby, you’ll never see me on Oprah crying. He said: “You all know what happened to me, getting smacked by Suge Smith. Yes it happened, I got smacked like a year ago.

Chris Rock has addressed getting slapped by Will Smith for the first time, during a new Netflix comedy special.

[Smith resigned from the Academy](https://www.nme.com/news/film/will-smith-has-resigned-from-the-academy-says-he-will-accept-any-further-consequences-3196231). [Run DMC](https://www.nme.com/artists/run-dmc), [ [DJ Jazzy Jeff And The Fresh Prince](https://www.nme.com/artists/dj-jazzy-jeff-and-the-fresh-prince)] made brand new funk. Later during the set, Chris Rock said he didn’t hit Will Smith back “because I got parents. “I’ve reached out to Chris and the message that came back is he’s not ready to talk, and when he is, he will reach out,” he said. [Oscars](https://www.nme.com/tag/oscars), Will Smith stormed the stage and [hit Chris Rock](https://www.nme.com/news/will-smith-confronts-chris-rock-over-jada-pinkett-smith-joke-at-oscars-2022-3191627) after the host made a joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith. I got smacked at the Oscars by this motherfucker,” Rock said (via Later that month, Rock said [he was “still kind of processing what happened](https://www.nme.com/news/film/chris-rock-speaks-on-will-smiths-oscars-2022-slap-3194642),” during a stand-up show. “That’s how it happens, she starts it, I finish it. He went on to say he “wasn’t a victim. “He does movies with his shirt off. Never going to happen. I got smacked a year ago.

The first live comedy special for the streamer was always going to serve up a slapback, and it was worth the wait.

The show’s title summed up of his idea of contemporary victimhood and his thesis that there was often hypocrisy attached to wokeness. He expressed mock surprise that Meghan Markle seemed shocked when she felt that the Royal Family was racist: “It’s the Royal Family – they invented colonialism!” And best of all, he finally tells his side of being whooped live onstage. Rock suggested that there was a disagreement between the two parties before his provocative 2022 quip about Pinkett Smith having a shaved head. “He played Muhammad Ali in the movies.” Smith, he laughed, appears in films with his shirt off. Rock was smarter on the subject of racism.

The comedian spoke at length about the 2022 Academy Awards incident during his Netflix special in Baltimore. | ITV National News.

The academy board of governors banned Smith from the Oscars and all other academy events for a decade. He used the last moments of the special to explain why he did not retaliate to Smith’s slap. Will Smith played Muhammad Ali in a movie, you think I auditioned for that part. Never going to happen.” Joking about former boxer Manny Pacquiao, Rock said: “I took that hit like Pacquiao. The 58-year-old kicked off his stand-up special joking: “I’m going to try and do a show without offending nobody. The comedian made the comment during his Netflix special Chris Rock: Selective Outrage at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, which was the company’s first foray into live streaming.

Chris Rock: Selected Outrage - Review of his live Netflix special that addressed the Will Smith slap.

But he can still sometimes surprise with an incisive, provocative punchline and a stage energy that survives being projected through the small screen. But of course, he sells it well with those distinctive, emphatic cadences – and unlike many comics who bang this anti-PC drum, he’s not a dick about it. you never know who might get triggered.’ He foreshadows the Smith material: ‘Anyone who says words hurt has never been punched in the face.’ In fact, the live nature of the broadcast is irrelevant – it could just as well be prerecorded, so unspontaneous is the performance. Rock starts by attacking the hypocritical forces of cancel culture, opening by saying: ’I’m going to try to do a show without offending anyone… A n***a he knows he can beat.

In "Selective Outrage," comedian Chris Rock speaks for the first time about Will Smith's slap at the Oscars. Netflix earns big buzz with foray into live ...

“From a business perspective, Netflix is likely hoping to attract new subscribers or retain ones at risk of churning in a competitive streaming market,” she says. Expect to see a lot of chatter long after the live show has aired,” Ong says. [more live programming](https://www.forbes.com/sites/tonifitzgerald/2023/01/12/netflix-snags-the-sag-awards-are-sports-the-streamers-next-target/?sh=26ed47e41451) at all the streamers, including Netflix—sports, live events, music, festivals, etc. Online, people dissected Rock’s routine, which built up to addressing the Smith slap and ended once he’d said his piece. which means that the industry's poster child of innovation is actually going back in time to drive appointment viewing.” It drives differentiation, reaches broad audiences, and provides valuable IP [intellectual property] for their libraries,” says Linda Ong, CEO and founder of CULTIQUE, a strategic cultural advisory.

Comedian Rock didn't just save his digs for Smith, who's slap he spoke at length about for the first time, as he reserved some shots for other A-Listers in ...

“There’s no Black couples either,” he said. “Did you see the Capitol riots? “They don’t even tell you about the product no more, they just tell you how much charity they do.” White men trying to overthrow the government that they run!” Rock said. He went on: “White men actually think they’re losing the country. And right now, we live in a world where the emergency room is filled up with mother***kers with papercuts.” He was enraged by “the kind of people who play Michael Jackson songs but won’t play R. “Who gives a f**k?,” he said. He then quipped: “Meghan Markle, I know the dilemma. They’re the Sugarhill Gang of racism.” Rock also professed he knew what Markle was “going through”, stating: “I know her dilemma: Black girl trying to be accepted by her white in-laws. Like didn’t she hit the light-skinned lottery?”

During the set, he addressed Markle's interview with Oprah Winfrey that occurred in April 2021. In the interview, Markle and Prince Harry said that, while at ...

and [made a bold Oscars claim](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/chris-rock-netflix-show-jada-pinkett-smith-b2294395.html) about Smith’s wife, Matrix Reloaded star Jada Pinkett Smith. [here](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/south-park-prince-harry-meghan-markle-full-episode-b2290152.html). He then quipped: “Meghan Markle, I know the dilemma. Rock claimed to know what Markle was “going through”, stating: “I know her dilemma: Black girl trying to be accepted by her white in-laws. It’s so hard, it’s very hard– but it ain’t as hard as a white girl trying to be accepted by her Black in-laws. [Markle herself was left “upset”](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/south-park-meghan-markle-harry-b2286338.html) by its content. Like didn’t she hit the light-skinned lottery?” [denied reports that they were considering a lawsuit](https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/royal-family/south-park-harry-and-meghan-episode-lawsuit-b2287023.html), calling the speculation “nonsense”. [roasted Will Smith over the Oscars slap](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/chris-rock-netflix-special-will-smith-b2294386.html). During the set, he addressed Markle’s interview with Oprah Winfrey that occurred in April 2021. [rejected the idea](https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/royal-family/harry-royals-racist-oprah-meghan-b2258480.html) that he and his wife had [accused the royal family of racism](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/meghan-markle-race-archie-skin-baby-b1813761.html) during the Winfrey interview. [Sign up](https://amzn.to/3wUCpW9)

Chris Rock has criticised Meghan Markle over her Royal Family racism claims during his new Netflix comedy special 'Selective Outrage'

“I know her dilemma: Black girl trying to be accepted by her white in-laws. It’s very hard, but it ain’t as hard as a white girl trying to be accepted by her Black in-laws. It was just some in-law shit. That’s the Royal Family, you didn’t Google those motherfuckers? He added she “seems like a nice lady – just complaining. Like, didn’t she hit the light-skinned lottery?

Chris Rock took aim at Meghan Markle in his first stand-up special since being slapped by Will Smith at the Oscars.

Because I was raised!” Rock said. “Anybody that say words hurt has never been punched in the face.” “I got parents! He added: “People were like, did it hurt? It still hurts. Rock alluded to Meghan as hitting “the light-skinned lottery” and said the incident was some “in-law s***”

Chris Rock took aim at Meghan Markle and her tension with the Royal Family in his historic Netflix show, Chris Rock: Selective Outrage.

we have in tandem the conversation of, “He won’t be given security. During the Oprah interview, which aired more than a year after Harry and Meghan quit the UK for California, the Duchess said: ‘In those months when I was pregnant … It was just some in-law s***. Seems like a nice lady, just complaining. Former Suits actress Meghan, 41, found herself in the comedian’s firing line as he jokes about her and husband Prince Harry’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021. [comment about the colour ](https://metro.co.uk/2021/03/08/meghan-markle-says-she-was-told-there-were-concerns-how-dark-archie-would-be-14204719/) [o](https://metro.co.uk/2021/03/08/meghan-markle-says-she-was-told-there-were-concerns-how-dark-archie-would-be-14204719/) [f](https://metro.co.uk/2021/03/08/meghan-markle-says-she-was-told-there-were-concerns-how-dark-archie-would-be-14204719/) [skin](https://metro.co.uk/2021/03/08/meghan-markle-says-she-was-told-there-were-concerns-how-dark-archie-would-be-14204719/) of the couple’s then-unborn child Archie. [Metro Football on Snapchat](https://story.snapchat.com/p/bace44d9-d6f8-4ec0-b0d2-6448cf365eab/1436206298976256). [Metro Showbiz on Snapchat](https://story.snapchat.com/p/16289297-eb61-4990-9aab-45ce173b8058/). Some of that s*** she went through was not racism. During his stand-up show, Chris told the audience: ‘Like who is this girl Meghan Markle? [other big news topics ](https://metro.co.uk/2023/03/05/prince-harry-and-meghan-say-theyve-been-invited-to-charles-coronation-18387497/)of the past couple of years. [Chris fully address Will Smith slapping him at the Oscars](https://metro.co.uk/2023/03/05/chris-rock-roasts-will-smith-in-netflix-special-a-year-after-oscars-slap-18387369/) for the first time.

A year after Will Smith slapped him at the Oscars, Rock responded fiercely in a new stand-up special, Netflix's first experiment in live entertainment.

Describing his jokes about Smith’s wife at the ceremony in 2016, he put it bluntly: “She started it. Here, he offers his theory on Will Smith, which is essentially that the slap was an act of displacement, shifting his anger from his wife cheating on him and broadcasting it onto Rock. The way his fury became directed at Pinkett Smith makes you wonder if this was also a kind of displacement. “She hurt him way more than he hurt me,” Rock said, using his considerable powers of description to describe the humiliation of Smith in a manner that seemed designed to do it again. There’s a comic nastiness to Rock’s insults, some of which is studied, but other times appeared to be the product of his own bottled-up anger. But here, he follows one of his most polished and funny jokes, comparing the dating prospects of Jay-Z and Beyoncé if they weren’t stars but worked at Burger King, with a long, sustained section on the Oscars that closes the show. Through a combination of razzle dazzle and Rolodex spinning, the streaming service packaged this special more like a major sporting event than a special, a star-studded warm-up act to the Oscars next week. “And now,” he added, pausing before referencing the new movie in which Smith plays an enslaved man, “I watch ‘Emancipation’ just to see him get whooped.” His jokes about Meghan Markle are very funny, mocking her surprise that the royal family is racist, terming them its originators, the “Sugarhill Gang of racism.” It messed up his momentum, but the trade-off might have been worth it, since the flub added an electric spontaneity and unpredictability that was a drawing card. HBO Max releasing that in the last week was its own counterprogramming. Normally, such an error would have been edited out, but since this was the first live global event in the history of Netflix, Rock could only stop, call attention to it and tell the joke again.

Chris Rock's latest comedy special Selective Outrage aired live on Netflix last night, where he cracked jokes about the Will Smith Oscar slap, ...

And a fourth wrote: “Chris Rock is absolutely NOT funny at all. He's predictable and boring." Almost cancelled Netflix cuz this s**t so awful,” a fifth person complained. I got 'Summertime' ringing in my ears," with the gag getting laughs and applause from the audience. Makes me not feel bad for what Will Smith did.” You can see a clip from the special here:

Meghan's allegations about comments over her son's skin tone become the butt of comedian's jokes in his new Netflix special.

“Meghan Markle, I know the dilemma,” he said. They’re the original racists. That’s the Royal family. He added, by imitating the Duchess: “‘Oprah, they’re so racist. [“concerns” had been raised](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2021/03/12/harry-meghan-oprah-interview-world-reacted-bombshell-claims/) by Buckingham Palace over how “dark” [her son Archie’s skin tone](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/meghan-harry-quotes-oprah-interview-best-comments-royal-family/) would be. [her allegations of racism](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/03/09/harry-meghan-oprah-interview-bombshells-royal-family-what-said/) against the Royal family.

Chris Rock took aim at Meghan Markle during his Netflix comedy special, accusing her of "trying to be a victim."

After the Winfrey episode aired, I was like 'Didn't she hit the light-skin lottery?'" They're the original racists. They invented colonialism," Rock said. "Everybody trying to be a victim," Rock said. In a first for Netflix, the special aired live on the platform.

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 ...

The academy board of governors [banned Smith from the Oscars](https://apnews.com/article/will-smith-oscars-ban-664346ac2d2441939764f35be2d8026b) and all other academy events for a decade. “You’ve got to give it to the tech companies for inventing something that existed for decades,” said Chieng. He added that he was “still kind of processing what happened.” [the March 12 Oscars,](https://apnews.com/hub/academy-awards) where the slap is sure to revisited by this year’s host, Jimmy Kimmel. Rock said the reason why he didn’t physically retaliate at the Oscars was because “I got parents.” “I did not have any entanglements,” said Rock. “How was your weekend?” he asked the crowd. Netflix added pre- and post-show bookends of star-studded live programming with, as host comedian Ronny Chieng said, “every comedy legend who owes Netflix a favor.” Bono lent a opening introduction. The comedian on Saturday referenced Pinkett Smith’s earlier confessions of having an “entanglement” with another man while married. Rock, who also riffed on how he’d respond if his father transitioned to a woman (he would support him, Rock said), made clear “Selective Outrage” was not going to be just a Will Smith show. If I’m in a movie getting open-heart surgery, I got on a sweater.” I got ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ears.”

In his live Netflix comedy special over the weekend, Chris Rock finally addressed the Will Smith Oscars slap drama. He told the audience...

He said, "I got parents! A ni**a he know he can beat, that is some bi**h a** sh*t." View this post on Instagram

Chris Rock has taken aim at Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, almost a year to the day that Smith slapped Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars.

[Smith shocked social media fans by making a joke about the Chris Rock Oscars slap](https://www.cityam.com/will-smith-shocks-by-making-joke-about-chris-rock-oscars-slap/). “And for people that don’t know what everybody know(s)… Rock added: “Everybody in here [has] been cheated on. “Cause everybody knows what the f— happened. Now, I normally would not talk about this s— but for some reason, these n—– put that s— on the Internet.” Everybody that really knows, knows I had nothing to do with that s—.

You'll laugh even as you're offended by Chris Rock's live Netflix special 'Selective Outrage.'

Whether or not you buy his theories about how men are, or women are, or what makes a good relationship, or what ails the country, or even accept the premises from which he draws his conclusions, and whether or not this was his finest hour (and eight minutes) of television, Rock remains worth listening to, because there’s nothing casual about what he does, and most important, he knows how to craft and sell a joke. Where “Tamborine” found the comic in a relatively intimate setting with the audience nearly at his feet, engaging in a more modulated, reflective style of delivery, “Selective Outrage” came across as a rough-edged bid to regain old fire; he pumped up the volume, prowled the stage, charging his text with repeated words and phrases like a revival preacher, both to hammer out a point and to make music. When Rock finally got to the Slap, in the special’s last minutes, he certainly leaned into it. And as in a sporting event, there was an element of unpredictability to “Selective Outrage,” even of danger, the possibility that the comedian would have to be carried off the field, figuratively speaking. Some of his targets were strangely inessential: Going after Meghan Markle for not understanding that she’d encounter racism among the royal family, felt mean and like a waste of breath, and the Kardashians, even if super-glued into popular culture, are the day before yesterday’s news. This is Rock’s sixth special, and that the previous five were produced in the usual manner has proved no impediment to his career.