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'.
"I got smacked at the f***ing Oscars by this motherf**ker."
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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.
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.
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.
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.
"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