He wasn’t even the main presenter and yet drew all the attention to himself. Comedian Chris Rock was only present at the Oscars to introduce the ‘Best Documentary’ category. Rock had prepared some jokes about Denzel Washington in his role of Macbeth, the nominated actor couple Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz and oh yes, also a tease to actress Jada Pinkett-Smith. She sat in the room with a cropped haircut (because of the hair disease alopecia), whereupon Chris Rock said he was looking forward to her role ‘in G.I. Jane 2′ (in GI Jane Demi Moore plays a Marine with cropped hair).
Her husband Will Smith laughed at first, but then realized that he really had to defend his wife. Smith walked onto the stage and punched Rock right in the face. Rock reacted successively bewildered, piqued (‘dudeit was a GI Jane-joke’) and then again with humor: ‘This is the most important night in television history!’ Who exactly is Chris Rock and does he possibly have a history with the Smith family?
The 57-year-old Chris Rock has been a member of the premier league of American stand-up comedy for years. He broke through in the 1990s, with appearances on the TV show Saturday Night Live and renowned theater shows such as Bring the Pain (1996) and Bigger and Blacker (1999). Rock is known as a sharp, socially critical comedian who speaks out about inequality in America and uses biting observations to make it tangible what life is like for black Americans. But Rock also has fun eyes and a recognizable whinny smile; he looks like a mischievous, boyish man and usually gets away with a lot of abrasive remarks.
#OscarsSoWhite
In addition to theater shows, Rock made an entrance in Hollywood in the late 1990s, starring in films such as Bad Company (2004) and Grown Ups (2010). In 2005 he was asked to host the Oscars for the first time, with the intention of giving the movie gala a sharp edge. Rock presented the Oscars for the second time in 2016, the year the film awards came under fire for only having white actors nominated. The hashtag #OscarsSoWhite was born, and many African-American filmmakers turned against the award. Rock refused to boycott the Oscars and used his performance to joke about racism in Hollywood.
His sharp lyrics that night were praised. He opened by saying, “I’m standing here at the Academy Awards, otherwise known as the White People’s Choice Awards. If presenters had been nominated, I would never have gotten this job.’ Also in 2016, Rock had jokes about actor Will Smith and his wife Jada. Since Pinkett-Smith had boycotted the Oscars that year, Rock joked in his opening monologue, “Isn’t she on a TV series these days? Jada was angry, she said she wouldn’t come. But Jada boycotting the Oscars is like I would boycott Rihanna’s panties. I wasn’t even invited!’
And of Will Smith, Rock then said, ‘It’s unfair that Will played so well in the movie Concussion and yet not nominated. It’s also unfair that Will was paid $20 million for his role in Wild Wild West†
They were comments that probably still bothered Smith and his wife years later. And that while Rock and Pinkett-Smith have known each other for a long time. From 2005 they worked together as voice actors in three animated films from the Madagascarseries: Rock as zebra Marty and Pinkett-Smith as hippo Gloria.
‘The Slap’
The incident, already dubbed ‘The Slap’ in American media, is a new twist in a discussion that has been going on for some time around the question of how much room there is for comedy and hard humor at movie galas. At the presentation of the Golden Globes, British comedian Ricky Gervais as host made much harder jokes about the celebrities in front of him for years, but it never came to physical violence.
After ‘The Slap’, fellow comedians are now concerned about the precedent Will Smith may set for future comedy appearances. American comedian Kathy Griffin expressed that feeling on Twitter Sunday evening: “Let me tell you something, it is a very bad habit to walk on stage and physically attack a comedian. Now we all have to worry about who the next Will Smith wants to play in comedy clubs and theaters.”
Rock has said he will not press charges against Smith. Just as his fans are already eagerly tweeting, Rock will realize that the incident could provide material for his next theater show. In 2016, Rock signed a million-dollar deal with Netflix for two shows. The first, Tamborine, was launched in 2018. Coincidentally, the tour of the second show, titled Ego Death, will start in April. It seems inevitable that Rock will make way for a look back at the Oscars on that show.
3 x Chris Rock
In 2005 in his first year as an Oscars host:
‘It will be a fantastic evening, there are no fewer than four black nominees tonight. It’s actually a kind of ‘Def Oscar Jam’ (a reference to the famous hip-hop label Def Jam, red†
In 2016 on his sophomore year as an Oscar host:
‘Things change. We now have a Black rocky had. Some people call that movie Creedbut I call it ‘black’ rocky† That’s something big. rocky is set in a world where white athletes are just as good as black athletes. rocky is a science fiction movie.’
In 2022 at the Oscars, introducing the ‘Best Documentary’ category:
“Do you know who has the most difficult task tonight? Javier Bardem. He and his wife Penélope Cruz have both been nominated. If she loses, he can’t win! He prays that Will Smith will win.”