Chris Rock

[Ginger]

However wrong Chappelle's views are, it doesn't make him unskilled or untalented as a storyteller and a comedian. Being transphobic didn't suddenly turn him into an incompetent hack.

Chris's trademark style in this special felt dated, and not much of it was very cohesive.

Dec 30, 2015 21:40:13 GMT -4 cubanitafresca said:

ut Chris seems to have a lot of anger towards Jada, almost more than Will.

But didn't Chris basically confirm that Will has been holding a grudge on behalf of Jada since 2015? Chris was hosting the Oscars, Jada publicly said everyone should boycott the ceremony because of lack of diversity in the nominees (which Chris believes was solely because Will wasn't nominated for Concussion) and then Chris made a joke about it at the ceremony. (“Jada [Pinkett Smith] boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna’s panties. I wasn’t invited.”). And Will wouldn't take Chris's calls after that.

I sympathized with Jada's sensitivity about her alopecia, but there is an element of "can dish it out but can't take it" in the dustup about Concussion (which seemed to be the source of the existing rage Will was already carrying when he flew off the handle about the bald joke).

[laurenj]

Mar 6, 2023 14:32:53 GMT -4 Ginger said:

Feb 10, 2006 17:47:02 GMT -4 Ladybug said:

I haven't followed this too closely over the last year, but I think Will Smith reached out in good faith and said if Chris wanted to talk privately he would apologize personally to him. But of course Chris would rather use the incident for comedy material and to settle a score. WS was wrong for the slap, but it seemed like he tried to reconcile w/CR in an adult way, and Rock went the middle school playground route.

One of the problems watching this show for me was that it was a livestream, and although I wasn't watching it live, the Netflix app was not allowing me to rewind. Attempting to rewind crashed the whole thing. So there were things I wanted to go back and listen to again that I couldn't.

But I believe Chris said that he reached out to Will when Will was being publicly mocked for the August Alsina/Red Table Talk interview, I guess to extend his support. And Will ignored his calls. But then punched him in front of millions of people. And Chris's point was that he's had a relationship with Will in some form or another for a long, long time, and Will wasn't willing to settle whatever beef there was directly. He is now? Well, maybe fuck that is a justified response.

I'm not giving to give credit to Will for being the magnanimous one in this situation. The aggressor doesn't really get to be the person who dictates to the victim the appropriate way to reconcile. Settling the score via a comedy special is definitely not the choice to be the bigger person, take the high road, etc. But there is a certain honesty to it. Chris obviously has not forgiven Will, and I don't think he's required to.

I only heard a clip, but it was something about Will ignoring Chris' calls, so it doesn't seem like he's willing to accept any apologies that may be self-serving and face-saving at this point, which seems like his prerogative.

On a semi-related topic, Marlon Wayans just released a comedy special that is 100% about the The Slap. I kept waiting for him to pivot to some other topic, but no, it was all tied into Will, Jada, Chris, and the slap. But I found it pretty funny and he somehow made 1.5 hours devoted to one event work. And it kind of proved the point that this was a cultural moment that's pretty much cemented forever, because we're a year out at this point. Jerrod Carmichael's SNL monologue had been similarly hijacked, but that was only days after the incident.

[cremetangerine82]

Chappelle's skills have been blunted by revolting and bigoted rhetoric about the LGBTQ+ communities like it's asking for him to be "ruined" or burned at the stake. BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities aren't mutually exclusive and were equally hurt by his "Old Man Yells At Rainbow for Being 'Woke'" shtick. He can STFU ASAP.

I'm glad Marlon Wayans spoke up for Chris Rock. Again, the bullied (Chris) is finally getting to speak while the bully (Will) got an Oscar, didn't apologize during his speech, literally got jiggy with it at the after party, got a "slap on the wrist" with an AMPAS 10-year-ban, put a "I want to be friends" video months later when Chris Rock doesn't deserve forgiveness OR friendship from the person who physically assaulted him!

I wish someone could find the unedited SNL Jerrod Carmichael monologue, it was probably funny AND gave Will the ass kicking he deserves.

[Ginger]

Jada had a source tell People Magazine her opinions and feelings about the special in great detail.

I think Jada should have some guts to say what she wants to say herself and stand behind it. That's part of the problem, is that Will - and now her unnamed source - are fighting on her behalf and she's acting like she's not part of it, when clearly she is.

"Jada has had no part in all of this other than being heckled," the source says. "Chris is obsessed with her and that's been going on for almost 30 years."

"Look where he chose to film his Netflix special. Her hometown [of Baltimore]. Obsessed.

He filmed a special in a city Jada hasn't lived in for decades and that shows he's obsessed with her? That's weak. I noticed that he chose Baltimore and figured it was because that he wanted to make sure that this special was done for an all-black audience.

The claim that he's been obsessed with her for 30 years is also weak. Where are the receipts on that? He's made a couple of jokes about her at awards shows over a few decades that were prompted by things she said and did. She's acting like he just picks on her out of the blue. This is why Chris had to remind everyone that "she started it".

The source tells PEOPLE they "were shocked at how many times Chris used the word bitch in referring to Jada."

Were they shocked by how many times Chris called Will a bitch? Because it was more.

[ahah]

Those are the kind of defenses a real housewife gives when trying to defend herself. Next, she's going to yell out that Chris is too short for her.

[WestEndGirl]

I saw Chris on his tour last year. At the time, he wasn’t yet talking about the slap in his set. I saw him in Baltimore.

So when they announced he was coming back to Baltimore to film this special (which seems to have a lot of the same material), I wondered why but I didn’t think it had to do with Jada. Do most people even know it is her hometown or associate it with her? I don’t know.. There is a column in the local paper lambasting him for choosing to film here as an attack on her.

[Ginger]

I know Jada's from Baltimore because her friend Tiffany Haddish told a story about driving Jada around while they were in New Orleans, and Jada kept fretting about the neighborhood and not feeling safe. "Really, Jada? You from Baltimore, bitch."*

*Note Tiffany addressing her as "bitch" in the same way Chris Rock did.

[laurenj]

Mar 7, 2023 16:53:35 GMT -4 Ginger said:

I know Jada's from Baltimore because her friend Tiffany Haddish told a story about driving Jada around while they were in New Orleans, and Jada kept fretting about the neighborhood and not feeling safe. "Really, Jada? You from Baltimore, bitch."*

*Note Tiffany addressing her as "bitch" in the same way Chris Rock did.

LOL, that's exactly why I know where she's from too. Otherwise, I would never associate Baltimore with Jada.

"Jada has had no part in all of this other than being heckled," the source says. "Chris is obsessed with her and that's been going on for almost 30 years."

The Marlon Wayans special also had a large focus on the crush Marlon had had on Jada back in the day. Seems to be a theme here.

ETA: I wonder how many minutes into this year's telecast we'll get before someone mentions the slap? It's like getting on a boat and seeing how long it will take for someone to do I'm the king of the world...

[Ginger]

So if Chris calls Will right now, does Will give the humble, sincere and heartfelt apology that he keeps saying in his statements that he wants to give? Or do they get into it about how Chris is pathetic for being obsessed with Jada for 30 years and calling her a bitch?

The Smiths act as a united front, they always have. A united, humorless, egotistical front. Will can't clap back at Chris Rock because he's the assailant and he needs to maintain that he's sorry, so Jada clapped back instead. I'm not buying into Jada's wish that we treat her as a separate entity who is just a bystander and has nothing to do with this. That was a clap back from The Smith Family.

[peace47]

Mar 7, 2023 13:48:53 GMT -4 WestEndGirl said:

I saw Chris on his tour last year. At the time, he wasn’t yet talking about the slap in his set. I saw him in Baltimore.

So when they announced he was coming back to Baltimore to film this special (which seems to have a lot of the same material), I wondered why but I didn’t think it had to do with Jada. Do most people even know it is her hometown or associate it with her? I don’t know.. There is a column in the local paper lambasting him for choosing to film here as an attack on her.

I do strongly associate Jada with Baltimore due to her friendship with Tupac, which started there. That would be pretty psycho if Chris purposely chose to film in Baltimore based on her association with the city, but I don’t know that I have thoughts on the intentionality of it. I haven’t seen the special yet, but my ultra-conservative father, who hates most stand-up, most comedy in general and most media that has a lot of profanity, is perplexingly, like, Chris Rock’s #1 fan, and he watched the special and remarked to me that Chris seemed to exude a vibe that he didn’t really want to be there and seemed a bit dour and cranky, in contrast to how much joy he has shown in previous specials.