Photo Credit: Netflix
Netflix Edited This Will Smith Joke From Chris Rock's 'Selective Outrage'
In the original version of Netflix stand-up special, Selective Outrage, Chris Rock misdelivered a joke about Will Smith.
Chris Rock's new Netflix special Selective Outrage got an edit. In the highly-anticipated stand-up event, the 58-year-old comic explained when Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith protested the 2016 Oscars, which Chris Rock hosted. The year prior, activist and writer April Reign began the #OscarsSoWhite movement, a call-to-action that was promptly followed by actors of color.
“Years ago his wife said I should quit the Oscars, I shouldn’t host ’cause her man didn’t get nominated for Emancipation, the biggest piece of shit, ever!" Rock said during Selective Outrage. However, the Brooklyn native misdelivered the joke, which he quickly acknowledged.
“No, not Emancipation, I fucked up the joke,” he said, before correcting the line: “She started this shit. She said that me, a fucking grown ass man, should quit his job because ‘My husband didn’t get nominated for Concussion.’”
It appears that Netflix has swept the joke out of the comedy special, which was pointed out by Vulture's Jessie Fox.
\u201cthey fixed the Concussion-Emancipation slip up in the version that's now on Netflix\u201d— Jesse David Fox (@Jesse David Fox) 1678304626
Later in the special, Rock again referenced Emancipation, Smith's 2022 slavery epic.
“I have rooted for Will Smith my whole life, and now I watch Emancipation just to see him get whooped,” he said.
During the 2016 Oscars ceremony, Rock aimed a joke at Pinkett Smith, who participated in the #OscarsSoWhite campaign when her husband didn't receive a Best Actor nomination for Concussion. He'd earn a trophy in the category six years later for his portrayal of Richard Williams in King Richard.
“Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna’s panties. I wasn’t invited,” Rock said while hosting at the time.
