Anything can happen when you’re live. This past Saturday night,Chris Rockreturned to the spotlight with the premiere of his live comedy special,Chris Rock: Selective Outrage, at Netflix. Making history, the special was the first-ever live event streamed worldwide. While things went well for the most part, Rock made a mistake with one of his jokes when it came time to addressing the infamous Will Smith incident. Though the comedian even joked about his own flub, the botch has since been edited out of the replay version that can now be streamed on Netflix after the fact.
The flub relates to a story Rock told about Jada Pinkett Smith warning him that he shouldn’t host the Oscars, but instead of naming the Will Smith filmConcussion, Rock named the more recent movieEmancipation. The punchline was about how Smith had practically given Rock a concussion with the “Oscars slap,” and Rock realized before getting to the end of the joke that he’d said the wrong title.
“Years ago his wife said I should quit the Oscars, I shouldn’t host, because her man didn’t get nominated forEmancipation, the biggest piece of sh*t, ever," Rock said during the live-streamed event, with this moment now edited out. He added, “No, notEmancipation…I f**ked up the joke.”
Setting his punchline back up with the right title, Rock then continued, “She started this sht. She said that me, a f**king grown-ass man, should quit his job because her husband didn’t get nominated forConcussion.And then this (expletive) gives me a fcking concussion."
Related:Jeff Ross Praises Chris Rock for Netflix Special and Verbal Beatdown of Will Smith
Chris Rock Would Also Joke About Emancipation
PerhapsEmancipationwas on Rock’s mind, as he would also have a pretty harsh barb for Will Smith related to that film. In the movie, Smith plays a slave who escapes from a plantation after enduring barbaric treatment, which includes getting severely whipped. Rock controversially joked that he watched the movie just to see this happen to Smith, suggesting it made him feel better about the Oscars slap.
“I have rooted for Will Smith my whole life,” Rock said, stressing how much things have changed with how he sees Smith. “I root for this mother*cker, okay, andnow, I watchEmancipationjust to see him get whipped!”
Before ending his set, Rock also said that the reason he didn’t do anything back to Smith at the Oscars last year was because he “was raised.” He said that one thing his parents had always taught him was to never “fight in front of white people.” Clearly, Rock had a lot on his mind, and perhaps getting it all out through comedy was his way of trying to heal, as fellow funnymanMarlon Wayans suggests.
“It was good to hear him speak about it,” Wayans said, viaPeople. “You could tell it was passionate. What you heard was somebody that was hurt, somebody that was finding their way to heal in that moment.”
