And live from Baltimore, Maryland, it’s Chris Rock: Selective Outrage!
“I’m gonna try to do a show tonight without offending nobody,” Rock said, kicking off his stand-up special. “I’m gonna try my best because you never know who’s going to get triggered.”
He went on to say that he doesn’t have a problem with “wokeness” but isn’t a fan of the “selective outrage,” the kind of people who will listen to Michael Jackson but not R. Kelly: “same crime — one of them just got better songs.”
The comedian re-addressed selective outrage during the last segment of his stand-up act when talking about Will Smith’s infamous Oscars slap.
“Will Smith practices selective outrage,” Rock explained. “Outrage because everybody knows what the fuck happened. Everybody that really knows, knows that I have nothing to do with that shit. I didn’t have any entanglements.”
He continued, “His wife was fucking her son’s friend. OK, now normally I would not talk about that shit, but for some reason, these n—-s put that shit on the internet. I had no idea why two talented people would do something that fucking low. What the fuck? And we all been cheated on. Everybody in here have been cheated on. None of us have ever been interviewed by the person that cheated on us on television.”
Everyone knows what happened by now, Rock said, and he’s still asked if it hurt: “Of course it fucking hurt. It still hurts,” adding, “but I’m not a victim, baby. You will never see me on Oprah crying. It’s never gonna happen … I took that hit like Pacquiao,” he said and the crowd cheered.
Throughout his set, Rock touched on the opioid crisis and how America’s real addiction is attention, not drugs, and how, oftentimes, people who victimize themselves do it for attention. He used this moment to reference the Capitol Riots.
“Did you see the Capitol Riots? White men trying to overthrow the government that they run?” Rock said. “They’re like, ‘Damn, we gotta get them out of office.’ Who? Us? Did you see the Capitol Riots? What kind of white Planet of the Apes shit was that?”
He then rhetorically asked the crowd what would make white men think they’re losing the country because they’re not in commercials anymore? “There’s no Black couples either,” he said. “Every commercial has a mixed-race couple,” adding that he saw a commercial the other day where a Japanese woman was married to a caterpillar.
“By the way, speaking of commercials, when did Snoop Dogg become Morgan Freeman?” Rock joked. “I saw a commercial the other day where Snoop was selling reverse mortgages.” But he made it a purpose to note that he loves Snoop Dogg. “I’m not dissing Snoop. The last thing I need is another mad rapper,” he added, to cheers from the crowd.
Later in the stand-up, Rock touched on politics, saying that Republicans lie, and Democrats leave out key parts of the truth, but “the whole country’s fucked up,” citing school shootings, the opioid epidemic and abortion.
“There’s a part of me that’s pro-life, OK? Because I’m definitely pro their lives,” he said. “But since I love my daughters unconditionally — I love them not just as little girls alone but as grown women — I want my daughters to live in a world where they have complete control of their bodies.”
The iconic comedian took the stage in Baltimore for a special event on Saturday, Netlifx’s first-ever live, global streaming event, airing from the Hippodrome Theatre.
The pre-show featured appearances from fellow comics and Rock’s friends, including Amy Schumer and Jerry Seinfeld. The live special is set to be hosted by The Daily Show‘s Ronny Chieng, with Areseno Hall, Deon Cole and Leslie Jones also appearing.
Chieng kicked off the night live at Los Angeles’ Comedy Store, joking that the iconic comedy venue on the Sunset Strip will be full of fluff from Netflix’s biggest fluffers.
“I cannot emphasize how live things are today,” The Daily Show correspondent said. “We are live from two different locations simultaneously, Los Angeles and Baltimore. Why? For absolutely no reason. This is extremely expensive and difficult and irritating.”
The comedian also poked fun at how they’re doing a live comedy show on a Saturday night, a concept that has existed for decades, aka Saturday Night Live.
Chieng then introduced Arsenio Hall, who shared how Rock got him back into stand-up. Toward the end of his brief set at the Comedy Store, Hall said that he hopes everyone enjoys the night “because I know somewhere Will Smith will not.”
“Trust me. We won’t know this, but I bet you Will Smith slaps the fuck out of a TV tonight,” he joked. “He gon’ knock that motherfucker off the wall.”
Matthew McConaughey, Amy Schumer, Ali Wong, Woody Harrelson, Paul McCartney, Rosie Perez, Jimmy Fallon, Kevin Hart, Sarah Silverman, Ice-T, Adam Sandler and many others wished Rock luck ahead of his live event.
Rock went live from Baltimore at 7 p.m. PT for the Selective Outrage special and is expected to do the same material that he’s been doing on the road as part of the “Chris Rock Ego Death World Tour” — including jokes about being slapped by Will Smith at last year’s Oscars. Rock’s second special for Netflix will remain available to stream after it airs, but the pre- and post-shows won’t be.
David Spade and Dana Carvey will emcee the post-show, with guests like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and JB Smoove.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
