Leaked Chris Rock Jokes Show That Even His Special’s Title Is a Dig on Will Smith
Leave it to Chris Rock to use the name of his historic Netflix special as a backhanded barb.
Rock’s live special Selective Outrage will premiere on Netflix this Saturday, eight days before the Oscars and almost a calendar year after the most infamous moment in the awards ceremony’s recent history. When Will Smith stormed the stage and smacked Rock across the face at last year’s Oscars, Rock was unwillingly thrust into the middle of the biggest entertainment scandal of 2022. With Selective Outrage, he’s ready to slap back.
After a year of avoiding public comments and interview questions about the incident, recently leaked jokes from the upcoming special revealed that Rock will put “The Slap” front and center in his first filmed hour since 2018. In case anyone ever had the impression that there would be no hard feelings about the Fresh Prince’s freakout, Rock has eradicated that notion, quipping, “I rooted for Will Smith my whole life. … The other day, I watched Emancipation just so I could watch him getting whipped.”
“Will Smith practices selective outrage,” Rock reportedly told a theater in Baltimore during a February show. “People who are in the know, know that s— had nothing to do with me.” The Baltimore Sun claimed that Rock spent “nearly five minutes” riffing on the Oscars slap. Coverage from various shows over the last few months have corroborated the story that Rock has been diligently working on his Smith material in preparation for Saturday’s set — Rock also allegedly said of Smith, “He is significantly bigger than me. You will never see me on camera with my shirt off. Will played Muhammad Ali. I played Pookie (in New Jack City).”
After a busy touring year that included a leg alongside fellow stage-attack survivor Dave Chappelle, Rock is ready to unleash probably the most anticipated jokes in stand-up history — speculation over Rock’s inevitable comedic reaction to the slap started before last year’s Oscars ceremony even ended, and Saturday will hopefully, finally bring closure to a chaotic phase of Rock’s career.
Or maybe he’ll bust out more bits about Jada’s baldness. Hopefully her boyfriends didn’t buy tickets.
