- Chris Rock’s live special on Netflix aired on Saturday and was praised by the internet, calling it “the best throwback ever” in response to Will Smith’s slap in the face
- Rock waited a year to release his standup special, in which he commented on being slapped at the Oscars after making a joke about Jada Pinkett-Smith
- Among the live viewers on Saturday was a good friend of Meghan Markle’s who was caught laughing at jokes Rock made
Chris Rock’s long-awaited public reaction to actor Will Smith’s slapping at the 2022 Oscars was met with critical acclaim – with some calling it the “best brutal takedown” in history.
During his new Netflix standup special, which premiered live Saturday night, Rock Smith hit back verbally a year after the incident that saw Smith banned from the Academy.
In a nearly two-minute segment, Rock fired on Smith’s decision to hit him onstage at the awards show after he and his wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, were made the targets of the joke about their infidelity.
“Everyone called him a bitch, and who does he hit? Me,” Rock joked to a crowd that included a friend of Meghan Markle’s, who was spotted laughing backstage, according to Page Six.
The comedian also took aim at the former ‘Suits’ actress during his special, saying she had been ‘acting really stupid’ for not realizing that the royal family were the ‘OGs of racism’.
Rock’s tirade has since been hailed on social media as “the perfect/best way” to bring it back to Smith for the moment that changed both of their careers.
The comedian made viewers and live viewers wait until the final 10 minutes of “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage” before addressing the slap.
“You all know what happened to me when I got hit by Suge Smith,” the comedian joked. Rock said: “It still hurts. I got ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ears.’
The slap came last year after Rock made a joke about Pinkett-Smith’s balding caused by alopecia.
Rock had joked that Pinkett-Smith was rocking a ‘GI Jane’ look, which resulted in her husband storming the stage and hitting him, after which he repeated: ‘Keep my wife’s name out of your damn mouth!’
During his new standup special, Rock joked about his fight over the past year.
‘Anyone who says ‘words hurt’ has never been slapped in the face,” he said.
“But I’m not a victim, baby. You’ll never see me cry over Oprah or Gayle,’ Rock said. He joked that he took the s**t like [Manny] Pacquaio.’
The crowd in the audience laughed out loud while those at home took to social media to share their thoughts.
“Like most comedians, I am always grateful for the existence of Chris Rock. Thank you comedy gods,” wrote fellow comedian Jim Gaffigan.
“Listen to me when I tell you. THIS IS THE MOST DIFFICULT MIC DROP EVER. NUF RESPEC,” wrote one Twitter user.
This user referenced the mic drop at the end of his special when responding to those who have asked why he didn’t hit Smith back, saying, “You know what my parents taught me? Don’t fight in front of white people.”
“Chris Rock beat Will Smith in the perfect/best way,” said one Twitter user, citing a tweet that included a clip from the standup special.
“This is someone who is still processing what happened,” said another user. “He knows he just slapped and slapped Smith hard. But in his eyes as he bows you can see the emotion, the anger, the pain. Good for you Rock.’
“Chris Rock just really slapped Will Smith on stage,” one person said.
Not everyone on social media has sided with the comedian, however.
Others took to Twitter to express their frustration that Rock has repeatedly “put down” black women, including Meghan Markle and Pinkett-Smith.
‘Chris Rock called Jada Pinkett-Smith and said Meghan Markle played the race card. Hitting black women. clowning,” wrote one verified user.
“I want to ask Rock, ‘Does this make you feel better?’ Let me be clear… I do NOT apologize for Smith’s behavior at the Oscars. For me though, I will always know that Rock missed a MASSIVE opportunity to be the bigger man in this situation and teach a valuable lesson. He wasted it,” Variety editor Clayton Davis wrote.
“I think he needs to let that go, I know what happened to him was bad but it just looks like a brother is putting down another brother when he’s already on the ground. There’s nothing uplifting about that,” one person said.
Among viewers who found it funny was reportedly Meghan Markle’s longtime girlfriend Janina Gavankar.
According to Page Six, Gavankar was backstage for Saturday’s live taping and watched Rock make jokes about her friend.
Sources told the outlet that Gavankar, 42, was with her boyfriend Dave Chapelle to see the performance at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theater.
“Janina seemed to be enjoying the show a lot, standing by the TV screens and laughing,” said an eyewitness.
Rock joked about Meghan and Prince Harry throughout his set, specifically her interview with Oprah and how a royal allegedly raised concerns about their children’s skin color.
On Saturday, Rock said the former actress was just dealing with it.In-laws s**t.’
“Who is this girl, Meghan Markle? Seems like a nice lady – just complaining,’ said Rock.
“Didn’t she win the white lottery?” Rock joked, calling the royal family the “OGs of racism.”
The comedian said Markle “acted really stupid” because he went up to Oprah and said she didn’t know how racist the royal family could be.
“This is the royal family, you haven’t googled these moms? They are the original racists. They invented colonialism,” he joked.
“They invested in slavery like it was Shark Tank,” he continued.
It’s unclear if Gavankar laughed at jokes aimed at her friend, but Page Six reported that she had attended other shows where the material was recited.
Gavankar is a longtime friend of Markle and attended the royal wedding in 2018.
Following the Sussexes interview with Oprah in 2021, the ‘Vampire Diaries’ actress took to TV networks in the UK to defend her friend.
“Although their ‘memories’ may vary, we don’t because we lived through it with them,” Gavankar said at the time.
“And there’s a lot of email and text to back that up,” she said on This Morning.
