(CNN) Chris Rock Finally addressed the Oscar slap and made Netflix history on Saturday, with the platform’s first global streaming event.
“I’m going to try to put on a show tonight without offending anybody. I’m going to do my best because you never know who might be triggered,” Rock said as he opened his set from Baltimore. “People always say words are hurtful … Anyone who says words are hurtful has never been punched in the face.”
After a quick and obvious reference to Will Smith slapping him on stage at last year’s Academy Awards, Rock saved his jokes about the incident until the last ten minutes of the show.
“You all know what happened to me, getting beat up by Shug Smith,” Rock said. “It still hurts. I had ‘Summertime’ playing in my ears. But I’m not a victim, baby. You’ll never see me cry on Oprah or Gayle … I took that hit like Pacquiao.”
His wife Jada Pinkett suggested Smith’s response to Rock Smith’s Oscar joke was more about their relationship than him.
“I’ve loved Will Smith, all my life,” Rock said. “I’ve rooted for Will Smith all my life … Now I’m watching ‘Deliverance’.
Smith plays an enslaved man in the period drama “Emancipation”.
Rock said people asked him, “How come you didn’t do anything that night? ‘Cause I got parents. You know what my parents taught me? Don’t fight in front of white people.”
Titled “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage,” the comedian hit on a variety of topics in the first 50 minutes, including drug addiction, abortion, racism in America, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, the Kardashian family and “awakening.”
“I don’t have a problem with vigilance. I don’t have a problem with that. I’m all for social justice. I’m all for marginalized people getting their rights. I have a problem with selective outrage.” Rock said. “You know what I’m talkin’ about. Somebody does something, they get canceled. Somebody else does the same thing, nothing. You know what I’m talkin’ about … People who play Michael Jackson songs don’t play R. Kelly. Same crime, one of them has great songs. .”
Addressing the country’s division, Rock said, “America is in a terrible place right now.”
“We got worse than Ukraine. Yeah, I said it. You know why? Because Ukraine is united and America is clearly divided,” Rock joked. “If the Russians come here now, half the country will say, ‘Let’s hear them.’ We’re in a bad place right now.”
Rock also explored his love life, saying that he realized how much women do to men when he noticed his pillowcases were dirty.
“I try to date girls my age who are 10 to 15 years younger than me,” she said. “Don’t hate the player, don’t hate the game. I’m not rich and in shape to talk about Anita Baker. I’m trying to f— doja gate.”
The performance is Rock’s sixth standup special and his second for Netflix after 2018’s Bo Burnham-directed “Tamboreen.”
Comedian Ronnie Cheung kicked off the pre-show live from Los Angeles, where he told the crowd, “We could have made this whole thing and nobody would have cared, but we’re doing it for a noble reason: to finally try. Kill traditional TV and put it out of its misery.” In fact, if you listen hard enough, you’ll hear baby boomers canceling the last cable subscription packages.”
There was also a post-show special with comedians Arsenio Hall, Dana Garvey, David Spade, Yvonne Orji and more.
