Comedian Chris Rock, in his latest comedy special, did not hold back from taking jabs at actor Will Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. The special, called “Selective Outrage,” was streamed live on Netflix from the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore. It was the first event to be streamed live on the platform, which is testing the technology to consider expanding into other real-time programming.
Rock’s jokes came a year after he was slapped on stage by Will Smith at the Academy Awards in 2022. The comedian had made a joke about the appearance of Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, which did not go down well with the actor. In the comedy special, Rock accused Will Smith of “selective outrage” and brought up Pinkett Smith’s call for a boycott of the Oscars in 2016.
Rock joked that he enjoyed watching Will Smith get beaten in his latest film, Emancipation, cheering “hit him again” and “you missed a spot”. He also joked about Pinkett Smith’s admission of an affair that she called an “entanglement” in 2020, saying, “She hurt him way more than he hurt me.”
Representatives for the Smiths did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Rock spent most of the show riffing on various topics, from Britain’s royal family to the Kardashians, abortion, and his dating life. He concluded by explaining why he did not fight back when Smith hit him at the Oscars, saying, “I got parents, and you know what my parents taught me? Don’t fight in front of white people.”
The comedy special was the second of two Rock comedy specials that Netflix agreed to pay $40m for under a deal reached in 2016. The streaming platform is considering expanding into other real-time programming and testing the technology with live events.
Chris Rock’s latest comedy special saw him take jabs at Will Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Rock accused Smith of “selective outrage” and joked about Pinkett Smith’s call for a boycott of the Oscars in 2016. Despite the incident at the Oscars last year, Rock did not hold back in his latest show, which was streamed live on Netflix.