Chris Rock talks Oscars slap in Netflix stand-up live special

WASHINGTON — A year after Will Smith hit him on stage at the Academy Awards, Chris Rock finally delivered his rebuttal in a powerful standalone special, streamed on Netflix, in where the comedian bragged that he “got that hit like Pacquiao.”

The 58-year-old comedian on Saturday night performed his first special since last year’s Oscars. “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage,” streamed live from the Hippodrome Theater in Baltimore, marks Netflix’s first foray into streaming.

Rock, performing in all-white and wearing a Prince’s medal around his neck, immediately touched on last year’s Oscars when he spoke of “saneness,” hypersensitivity and what he calls “indignation.” selective anger”.

“You never know who might be triggered,” says Rock. “Whoever says hurtful words won’t get punched in the face.”

But Rock then covered a wide range of topics examining contemporary issues, including virtue signaling, expensive yoga pants, the Duchess of Sussex, the Kardashians, abortion rights, violence riots on the Capitol and what he calls America’s greatest addition: Attention.

“We used to want love, now we just want likes,” Rock said.

Rock, who also talked about how he would react if his father were transgender (he would support him, Rock said), made it clear that his “selective outrage” would not just a Will Smith show. Only once in a while does Rock’s material fit into the 2022 Oscars, like when Rock joked about the weirdness of Snoop Dogg being such a revered tout for advertisers.

“I don’t disparage Snoop,” Rock said. “The last thing I need is another crazy rapper.”

But an hour after filming finished, Rock closed the special with a documentary about the infamous Oscars moment.

“You all know what happened to me, when I was beaten by Suge Smith. Everyone knows,” Rock said. “It still hurts. I heard the ‘Summertime’ ring in my ear.”

While Smith has apologized and has repeatedly spoken out about the incident since last March, Rock has avoided all the usual platforms where celebrities often speak out about their feelings. He never sat down with Oprah Winfrey, and turned down many media outlets that wanted to do an exclusive in-depth interview.

“I’m not a victim, honey,” Rock said. “You will never see me on Oprah or Gayle crying. You will never see it. It will never happen.”

But Rock used his meeting with Smith to shape and animate his second special for Netflix. Some of his best material is about their physical differences.

“We are not the same size. This guy made a movie with my shirt on,” Rock said. “You will never see me naked in a movie. If I was in a movie that had open heart surgery, I would wear a sweater.”

“He plays Muhammed Ali,” Rock added. “I played Pookie in ‘New Jack City.’”

Finally, Rock suggests that he has just gotten caught up in the conflict in Smith’s relationship with his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. It was a joke Rock told about Pinkett Smith that made Smith strut across the stage and attack Rock. The comedian on Saturday addressed Pinkett Smith’s earlier confessions of having “stuck” with another man while married.

“I don’t have any problems,” Rock said. She hurt him more than he hurt me.

“I love Will Smith,” Rock added. “Now I watch ‘Liberation’ just to watch him get hit.”

Before lowering the microphone and raising his hand triumphantly, Rock left the crowd with one last zinger. Rock said the reason why he didn’t retaliate with force at the Oscars was because “I have parents.”

“And you know what my parents taught me?” he say. “Don’t fight in front of white people.”

Netflix added star-studded live shows before and after the show with, as host comedian Ronny Chieng put it, “every comedy legend owes Netflix a favor.” Bono lends the opening intro. Dana Carvey and David Spade host the following- Paul McCartney, Tracy Morgan, Adam Sandler, Jerry Seinfeld and one of last year’s Oscar hosts, Wanda Sykes, all added pre-recorded messages.

For most of the past year, Rock has toured new material in a long string of performances as part of his Ego Death tour. The shows, which were announced ahead of the 2022 Oscars, feature outstanding performances by Dave Chappelle and Kevin Hart.

Along the way, Rock often made jokes and pondered slaps. The first time Rock broke public silence about that slap was three nights after the Oscars, last year in Boston. “How was your weekend?” he asked the crowd. He added that he is “still processing what happened.”

After much processing, Rock has regained the attention of the cultural world just a week before the Oscars ceremony on March 12, where this year’s host, Jimmy Kimmel, is sure to revisit this slap. . Following last year’s events, Smith resigned his membership at the film academy. The academy board banned Smith from participating in the Oscars and all other academy events for a decade.

At the annual luncheon for nominees held last month, film academy president Janet Yang expressed regret over the handling of the case, calling the academy’s response a “inadequate”. Bill Kramer, the academy’s chief executive, said the academy has set up a crisis communications team to prepare and respond more quickly to the unexpected.

“Selective Outrage” is Rock’s second special for Netflix, following “Tamborine” in 2018. They’re part of two $40 million special deals Rock signed with streamers on 2016.

As new as the “Selective Wrath” live show is for Netflix, it’s hard not to notice some familiar things about it.

“You have to give it to tech companies for inventing something that has been around for decades,” Chieng said. “We’re doing a comedy show on Saturday night…live. Genius.”