Nicole Brown Simpson’s Sister Called Chris Rock’s Joke About Her Murder “Beyond Distasteful”
It’s a good thing Chris Rock told the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences to talk to the hand when they offered him the job of hosting the 2023 Oscars because based on his propensity for telling unfunny, half-baked “jokes” based on 30 year-old-references, Chris might find himself talking to an array of hands throughout the evening, making for the slappiest Oscars ceremony since 2022 (prior to that it was in 1988 when Cher won Best Actress for slapping Nic Cage in Moonstruck). Chris found himself the target of many a spiritual slap when he took the opportunity to make a crack about the brutal 1994 murder of Nicole Brown Simpson during a comedy set in Phoenix over the weekend. Chris quipped that the Academy asking him to come back and host the Oscars would be like asking Nicole to go back to the restaurant where she left her sunglasses before she and Ron Goldman were murdered by a mystery man with teeny tiny hands. Nobody found that shit funny, least of all Nicole’s sister Tanya Brown who, spiritually of course, told Chris to get her sister’s damn name out his mouth before someone slaps it out for him, spiritually of course.
TMZ spoke to Tanya about Chris’ comments and she also posted about it on Instagram. Here’s what she had to say to TMZ:
Chris Rock invoking the late Nicole Brown Simpson didn’t land with the public, and it’s definitely not landing with her family either — ’cause he’s getting dragged by them.
Tanya Brown, Nicole’s sister, tells TMZ … CR’s crack wasn’t just unfunny, it literally doesn’t make sense. She says equating getting slapped at the Oscars to a gruesome double homicide is apples to oranges — so, she thinks it’s lacking in logic and a basic connection. With that said, Tanya tells us his attempt at humor was distasteful to say the least, and offensive to the extended family … especially since she believes it was totally gratuitous.
What TS wants Chris — and anyone else who might want to invoke Nicole’s murder in their bit — to know is this … there are still surviving family members who are still dealing with her loss to this day, and this type of stuff hits close to home and hurts people.
Tanya says she thinks Chris could’ve used any other analogy to make his point … and didn’t have to punch down to something that doesn’t even relate — coming off as tacky as a result. She believes comedians should be held accountable for what they say, including Chris.
TMZ suggests that Chris is facing accountability because he’s currently “being called out by a lot of people online,” and that “a select few are even suggesting maybe he deserved getting smacked by Will Smith.” If Chris keeps squandering any goodwill he accumulated with his humiliation— poorly conceived, dated barbs directed at women and getting slapped in the face on Live TV are going to be his only lasting legacy. Well, I suppose he’ll always have that Saw spinoff he made, Spiral: From the Book Saw(ing Your Career In Half By Forgetting How To Write Jokes, to show his grandkids that used to be someone (who didn’t have to walk the streets of LA wearing a motorcycle helmet for protection). Here’s Tanya’s Instagram post addressing Chris’ non-joke.
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