After briefly addressing the viral Oscars 2022 moment where Will Smith ascended the stage to slap Chris Rock for making fun of Jada Pinkett Smith’s troubles with hair loss, the comedian has finally chosen to air his thoughts on the controversy and defend his actions even though it is a little too late for any explanations. But what is really rubbing many the wrong way is how he talks about Pinkett Smith and mocks parts of her life that have nothing to do with the whole drama.
In his new stand-up special, Selective Outrage, on Netflix, Rock explained why he chose to joke about Pinkett Smith’s baldness as well as why she has been a part of his quips for years now. Apparently, back in 2016, when many celebrities boycotted the Oscars for it not being diverse enough, she asked Rock to say no to the offer of hosting the event. And as per Rock, her request actually stemmed from the fact that Will Smith wasn’t nominated for his film Concussion.
But his monologue about Pinkett Smith didn’t start here — it begins with him picking on the actress openly talking about having an “entanglement” with singer August Alsina back in July 2020 and then doing an episode of her show Red Table Talk with Will Smith to discuss the same publicly.
“Will Smith practices selective outrage,” said Rock. “Everybody that really knows knows I had nothing to do with that s***. I didn’t have any ‘entanglements’.” He went on to joke about how Pinkett Smith hurt her husband “way more than he hurt me” by having him discuss how he was cheated on while on camera.
While many have been congratulating Rock for finally addressing the Oscars slap and believe him that dragging Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith through the mud is the right approach, there are those who are not in favor of how the comedian seemingly attacks the latter and even stoops to using words like “bitch” while talking about the actress.
Some are also defending the Smiths’ decision to have an open relationship and the injustice of Pinkett Smith getting blamed for King Richard star’s actions.
As expected, Rock’s special has ended up being one divisive topic of debate that will lead to more polarizing opinions as more people watch his stand-up, Selective Outrage, on Netflix.