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Year after the slap, Chris Rock punches back in new special

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 91Ƶtook that hit like Pacquiao.91Ƶ

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 91Ƶtook that hit like Pacquiao.91Ƶ

The 58-year-old comedian on Saturday night performed his first stand-up special since last year91Ƶs Oscars. 91ƵChris Rock: Selective Outrage,91Ƶ streamed live from the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, marked Netflix91Ƶs first foray into live streaming.

Rock, performing in all white and with a Prince medallion around his neck, immediately touched on last year91Ƶs Oscars while riffing on 91Ƶwokeness,91Ƶ hypersensitivity and what he called 91Ƶselective outrage.91Ƶ

91ƵYou never know who might get triggered,91Ƶ said Rock. 91ƵAnybody who says words hurt hasn91Ƶt been punched in the face.91Ƶ

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 America91Ƶs biggest addition: Attention.

91ƵWe used to want love, now we just want likes,91Ƶ said Rock.

Rock, who also riffed on how he91Ƶd respond if his father transitioned to a woman (he would support him, Rock said), made his clear 91ƵSelective Outrage91Ƶ was not going to be just a Will Smith show. Only occasionally did Rock91Ƶs 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.

91ƵI91Ƶm not dissing Snoop,91Ƶ said Rock. 91ƵThe last thing I need is another mad rapper.91Ƶ

But an hour into his set, Rock closed the special with a torrent of material about the infamous Academy Awards moment.

91ƵYou all know what happened to me, getting smacked by Suge Smith. Everybody knows,91Ƶ Rock said. 91ƵIt still hurts. I got `Summertime91Ƶ ringing in my ears.91Ƶ

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.

91ƵI91Ƶm a not a victim, baby,91Ƶ said Rock. 91ƵYou will never see me on Oprah or Gale crying. You will never see it. Never going to happen.91Ƶ

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.

91ƵWe are not the same size. This guy does movies with my shirt off,91Ƶ said Rock. 91ƵYou will never see me do a movie with my shirt off. If I91Ƶm in a movie getting open-heart surgery, I got on a sweater.91Ƶ

91ƵHe played Muhammed Ali,91Ƶ added Rock. 91ƵI played Pookie in `New Jack City.91Ƶ91Ƶ

Ultimately, Rock suggested he was just caught in the crossfire in Smith91Ƶs 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 Smith91Ƶs earlier confessions of having an 91Ƶentanglement91Ƶ with another man while married.

91ƵI did not have any entanglements,91Ƶ said Rock. 91ƵShe hurt him way more than he hurt me.91Ƶ

91ƵI love Will Smith,91Ƶ added Rock. 91ƵNow I watch `Emancipation91Ƶ just to see him get whooped.91Ƶ

Before dropping his microphone and holding his arms up triumphantly, Rock left the crowd with one last zinger. Rock said the reason why he didn91Ƶt physically retaliate at the Oscars was because 91ƵI got parents.91Ƶ

91ƵAnd you know what my parents taught me?91Ƶ he said. 91ƵDon91Ƶt fight in front of white people.91Ƶ

Netflix added pre- and post-show bookends of star-studded live programming with, as host comedian Ronny Chieng said, 91Ƶevery comedy legend who owes Netflix a favor.91Ƶ 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 year91Ƶs Oscar hosts, Wanda Sykes, all added pre-taped messages. Arsenio Hall guaranteed Rock91Ƶs 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. 91ƵHow was your weekend?91Ƶ he asked the crowd. He added that he was 91Ƶstill kind of processing what happened.91Ƶ

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 year91Ƶs host, Jimmy Kimmel. In the aftermath of last year91Ƶs 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 academy91Ƶs response 91Ƶinadequate.91Ƶ Bill Kramer, the academy91Ƶs chief executive, has said the academy has since instituted a crisis communications team to prepare for and more rapidly respond to the unexpected.

91ƵSelective Outrage91Ƶ is Rock91Ƶs second special for Netflix, following 201891Ƶs 91ƵTamborine.91Ƶ They91Ƶre part of a two-special $40 million deal Rock signed with the streamer in 2016.

As new as the live 91ƵSelective Outrage91Ƶ was for Netflix, it was hard not to notice a few familiar things about it.

91ƵYou91Ƶve got to give it to the tech companies for inventing something that existed for decades,91Ƶ said Chieng. 91ƵWe91Ƶre doing a comedy show on Saturday night 91Ƶ live. Genius.91Ƶ

91ƵĔĔ

By Jake Coyle

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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