D.L. Hughley And Leslie Jones Offer Chris Rock Support After Online Backlash From His Netflix Special
Chris Rock has finally broken his silence in regard to the infamous Slap Debate from last year’s Oscars during his life Netflix comedy special Chris Rock: Selective Outrage. And although he discussed many topics, everyone was awaiting how he would address Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith almost a year after that mess went down and just a week before the 2023 Oscars. And Chris went INNNNNNN. But of course, since he’s the last one to speak on the matter, Chris’ response was seen as too little too late by some. But he’s found help from his comedy friends D.L. Hughley and Leslie Jones who both offered their support by directly addressing Chris’ critics.
People reports Selective Outrage definitely caused outrage online, with people calling Chris’ Blackness into account once again. Especially since, without actually saying her name (as per Will’s instructions), he referred to Jada Pinkett-Smith as a bitch a few times during his set. And what’s even worse is he did all of this in Jada’s hometown of Baltimore. Talk about a slap to the face, right? And speaking of which, it’s evident Chris is still experiencing night terrors from Will’s palm pummeling, but even though he finally had a chance to speak on it, people aren’t being very receptive to what he has to say.
Chris Rock makes comedy for white people who have a Black friend.
— Wordsmith & Wesson (@Kyla_Lacey) March 5, 2023
My takeaways from Chris Rock's show:
1) Most of it was cringy not funny.
2) He has MAJOR issues with women- & not just Jada.
3) He's comfortable straddling right wing takes
4) He's REALLY comfortable with non-black approval
5) The Will stuff was.. late.
6) Oscar will be thrilled— Darryn M. Briggs (@darryn_briggs) March 5, 2023
So, Will Smith ain’t supposed to fight Chris Rock in front of white ppl… that’s problematic.
BUT Chris Rock making a career out of clowning his own ppl—including Smith’s black wife—for white ppl’s entertainment… that’s fine…
Sure. “Mic drop”, I guess.
— Ada J. Raven (@adajraven) March 5, 2023
I’m sure Chris couldn’t care less about the opinions of folks who aren’t signing his checks because he has yet to respond to anything negative said about him. But when you have friends like D.L. and Leslie, you really don’t have to say anything. Because D.L. praised Chris for his candor, all while reminding Chris’ critics that nobody experienced getting slapped on live TV outside of a sporting event:
While Hughley didn’t address any comments about Jada, 51, he reiterated his opinion that Rock’s performance was “brilliantly executed” in the special, captioning another video, “If you love comedy, if you are a student of the art, if you are one of the few remaining people that allow for creative expression, then you walked away from this with the same sentiment.”
“Side note … That happened to HIM, to CHRIS … and the ENTIRE WORLD got to weigh in and talk trash and make jokes and ‘shoulda, woulda, coulda’ the whole damn thing to death,” continued the actor and fellow comedian. “OTHER COMEDIANS have bits about it, it was an opener for most of us. The ONE PERSON YOU NEVER HEARD FROM ABOUT IT WAS CHRIS!!”
“So NOW, that HE decides to address it on HIS TIME, people have the audacity to say: ‘he’s bitter … Why is he still talking about that … let it go … or the best one WE’VE MOVED ON.’ So YOU got to speak on it but he can’t??? Y’all are a straight f*n trip,” he continued.
Hughley concluded, “Congratulations @chrisrock YOU DID THE DAMN THANG!!”
One commenter attempted to take the conversation in a different direction by writing, “You got to let stuff go at some point in your life … This is how young brothers get killed in the streets,” and saying that Chris was “Setting a terrible example.” And this is when Leslie threw on her cape to defend Chris.
Defending Rock, Jones wrote, “Y’all forget he got slapped in front of the world yo! His kids, his mama, peers EVERYONE! I wonder how y’all muthaf—-s would handle that! And he is A COMEDIAN this is his way of expressing it. If he sang he would write a song. Cause it’s a painful thing that happen.”
“Y’all act like you would be righteous! YOU ARE HYPOCRITES! Shut the f— up and go sit down,” she added.
While Chris has supporters, many think that the Smiths are the slap-happy victors of this entire ordeal. Which unfortunately leaves Chris as the man who hates Black women, Black people, and the threat of punch-inducing black eyes.
Pics: INSTARImages