Comedians have defended Chris Rock for ripping into Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith in his new Netflix special.
In his new comedy special, Selective Outrage, the 58-year-old spoke about the infamous 2022 Academy Awards slap and went on a tirade about how 'everybody' calls the Fresh Prince star a 'b***h'.
As the audience roars with laughter, Rock says: "Y'all know what happened to me, getting smacked by 'Suge Smith'.
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"I got smacked at the f***ing Oscars by this motherf**ker."
Rock went on to say that while the slap 'hurt', he didn't cry about it because he's 'not a victim'.
The comedian also spoke of Pinkett Smith’s affair with August Alsina and how she interviewed Smith about the matter on an episode of her Facebook series, Red Table Talk.
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During his segment, he says: "Will Smith practices selective outrage because everybody knows what the f**k happened.
"Everybody knows I had nothing to do with that s**t. I didn't have any entanglements."
While his comments have garnered criticism on social media, comedian Bill Bellamy, known for appearing in Russell Simmons' Def Jam Comedy, defended Rock.
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The 57-year-old told TMZ Live that the comedian used the special to ‘express his pain’ rather than attacking the couple.
He said: “He was expressing his pain? You know, I feel like he was embarrassed in front of everybody, and it was an unfortunate situation, you know?”
He added: “I think as a comedian, he used his power to get his voice across and how he felt about it. He [Rock] said, you know, he got a concussion from the situation, and he was embarrassed, and he didn’t do anything for a whole year.”
The outlet also spoke with comedian Jeff Dye, a finalist on the sixth season of the NBC series Last Comic Standing.
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The 40-year-old condemned Rock’s critics for slamming the special.
He said: “I think anybody that upset at Chris Rock after he got assaulted is insane. That’s insane. "
The comedian added the couple is lucky Rock didn’t press charges.
Dye continued: “He did great jokes after getting slapped in front of everyone. That’s another part I should add, I’ve been beaten before, and it’s pretty humiliating.
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"If it was on the biggest stage in show business and everyone was commenting the next day….that’s like the most humiliating thing."
Topics: News, Celebrity, Chris Rock, Will Smith
Charisa Bossinakis