Chris Rock’s funniest moments, as live special hits Netflix

Chris Rock will appear in a one-of-a-kind stand-up comedy special on Netflix this weekend, his most breakout performance since Will Smith slapped him onstage at the 2022 Oscars.

Rock will perform at the Hippodrome Theater in Baltimore at 10 pm EST on Saturday and will stream live on Netflix.

In the special, Chris Rock: Selective Outrage, the comedian is expected to address the infamous Oscar slap, when Smith punched Rock after he made a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair. He is performing material from his last tour.

Netflix has never had a live performance before, but breaking new ground is nothing new for the 58-year-old comedian who has spent his career taking no prisoners and telling jokes few would dare.

Here are some of Rock’s most controversial and hilarious moments.

oscar slap

While hosting the 2022 Oscars, Rock took a moment to poke fun at Jada Pinkett Smith, who was sitting in a front row seat with a shaved head.

Rock made jokes about her appearance and said he was looking forward to seeing ‘GI Jane Two’, referencing the 1997 GI Jane movie in which Demi Moore had a shaved head.

Unbeknownst to Rock, Pinkett Smith suffered from alopecia, a hair loss disorder, and was not amused by it.

Although Smith could initially be seen laughing at the joke about his wife, he suddenly came up on stage and slapped Rock across the face, before returning to his seat and yelling at Rock to “keep my wife’s name out of your f ****”. *g mouth.’

cancel culture

While presenting an award at the 2019 New York Film Critics Circle Awards, Rock took a moment to express his candid views on cancel culture.

Rock lamented that the new movement has neutralized comedy, leaving artists terrified of making their own material for fear of reprisals from the public.

“If it was five years ago, I could say something really offensive and funny right now, but I can’t do that anymore, so hey!” he said.

Two years later, while appearing on Breakfast Club Radio, he elaborated on his views, saying cancel culture resulted in a non-growing, bad joke industry because comedians were afraid to experiment and develop their acts.

You have to take care of some people. I definitely understand that. What happens is that everyone gets safe and when everyone gets safe and nobody tries anything, things get boring,” he said.

Social Media Discussions

Days after the 2019 El Paso shooting that killed 23 people, Rock posted a photo on Instagram of actress Betty White along with the caption “First thing people say when a mass shooting is announced.”

Rock left the interpretation up to the viewers, and it didn’t take long for many to realize that ‘Betty White’ was meant to be read as ‘Bet the white’.

Not everyone liked the joke, with many accusing it of being racist, while others said it was inappropriate to make jokes about a tragedy.

Then in 2019, Rock upset fans when he posted a photo of the late Whitney Houston giving an interview while wearing sunglasses, along with the caption “Me sitting in a meeting that could have been an email.”

Beneath the image, he wrote: “Hurry up, I’ve got crack to smoke.”

Many were upset by the post, with even Houston’s ex-husband joining in, writing: “During this time of women empowerment, you chose to use your time to try to put our QUEEN down! I thought you were a family friend.” .

late night television

During a 2016 SNL sketch, Rock made a surprise appearance alongside Dave Chapelle in a skit on that year’s election night in the presidential race between Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump.

In the skit, a group of white friends watch the coverage, and the whites in the room express their disbelief that Trump is winning the election.

However, Chapelle and Rock’s characters are unfazed.

Noting that 55 percent of the country was made up of women, Rock jokes that if more than half the country were black, there would be countless black presidents.

“If 55 percent of the country was black, we’d have tons of black presidents, I mean, Flavor Flav would be the president.”

And in 2010, Letterman was mocked for broadcasting with a sore throat in the wake of a sex scandal in which he was accused of sleeping with staff members of his show.

Rock joked that Letterman was “a rich man” who could go home instead of going on the air with a bad voice, but that he chose to stay on set because his wife was mad at him.

‘My wife is still mad at you, isn’t she?’ he joked. ‘Why drive a bad woman back to Connecticut? “I’d better stay here and do the show without a voice.” I love you darling. I was there, Dave. I get sick on the way. And if my wife is mad at me, I add some shows.

cultural commentary

In his 1996 Bring the Pain special, Rock joked that if OJ Simpson wasn’t famous, he would have been convicted of murder.

“Blacks too happy, whites too angry,” he quipped. I haven’t seen white people this angry since ‘M*A*S*H’ was cancelled.

‘That was about fame. If OJ wasn’t famous, he’d be in jail right now. If OJ drove a bus, he wouldn’t even be OJ. It would be Orenthal, the killer who drives the bus.

And during a 1999 special, he talked about gun control after the Columbine massacre.

“If a bullet cost $5,000, there would be no more innocent bystanders,” he joked.