Chris Rock was already a famous comedian before the infamous slap by Will Smith. But it’s undeniable that the incident shot him into the stratosphere. For about a year now, there have been uncountable debates about whether Rock’s words about Jada Pinkett Smith were right or not, and even more, have talked about Will Smith’s actions. However, the bold comedian who angered the Hancock actor at the 2022 Oscars ceremony wasn’t always so daring. In fact, once upon a time, he needed copious amounts of therapy to deal with his confessed selfishness.
Chris Rock Admitted To Seeking Therapy
In a 2021 interview with Gayle King of CBS Sunday Morning, Chris Rock admitted that he had availed therapy even before the pandemic ravaged everyone’s mental health. However, he confessed to the host that not only was he still undergoing therapy but was doing it for about 7 hours every week. As per the comedian, he really started seeing its importance after the Covid-19 devastation. King then prodded Rock about the hardest truth about himself since therapy only works if one is true to themselves.
The 58-year-old filmmaker said that he was selfish and unkind sometimes. According to Rock:
“Sometimes I wasn’t kind. Sometimes I wasn’t listening, and sometimes I was selfish. Ultimately, who do you want to be?
The host then asked Rock about the kind of person he wants to be. To this, the infamous comedian replied that even though he looks like a confident person on the outside, but actually he likes to play things safe. As per the comic:
“On the outside, it looks like I’m like, this daring person. But boy, can I play it safe. And yeah, I need to like, jump in the pool a little bit. You know what I mean?”
If by jumping into the pool, he meant to do something more outgoing and shocking, then he certainly accomplished that at the 2022 Oscars. Even almost a year later, the cheeky comic hasn’t let Smith off the hook for his actions. After all, even recently, Rock took a dig at Smith by bringing up his movie Emancipation.
Chris Rock Disses Will Smith Again
At a recent show, Chris Rock took some sharp barbs at Will Smith for the Oscars assault. Performing at the Baltimore, Hippodrome Theatre, Rock went all guns blazing and directly addressed the I Am Legend actor. He said:
“The other day, I watched Emancipation just so I could watch him getting whipped.”
But this wasn’t the only thing shocking about Smith that the comedian uttered. He said:
“The thing people wanna know … did it hurt? Hell yeah, it hurt. He played Muhammad Ali! I played Pookie (referring to New Jack City). Even in animated movies, I’m a zebra, he’s a fucking shark.”
Social media is ablaze after his joke went viral, and that’s probably what Rock wants as well. There are rumors that he is cracking these fiery jokes on the approaching first anniversary of the now iconic slap because he is testing out new content for his next Netflix special called Chris Rock: Selective Outrage. It remains to be seen how many more jokes about the incident and Smith he can cram in it.
Chris Rock: Selective Outrage will air live on 4 March 2023 on Netflix.
Source: CBS