Chris Rock’s in-the-moment handling of “The Slap” during the 2022 Oscars was as professional as anyone could have possibly managed. He had just been smacked in front of the whole world in what appeared to be the release (as Rock now reads things) of a lot of frustration from Will Smith towards other parties. Rock stayed fairly quiet on the issue, biding his time, but those rumors were correct: Rock had been saving up his reaction for the very first live stand-up comedy special from Netflix. And oh boy, he delivered those juicy goods.
With Selective Outrage, that set title landed squarely atop Smith’s shoulders. Not only did he come for Will (wisely, towards the set’s conclusion), but he also had a question for Meghan Markle. Prince Harry’s wife previously, infamously told Oprah about her unpleasant experience with “racism” from British Royals, and Rock is over there wondering why Meghan is surprised:
“What are you talking about? It’s the Royal Family! … You didn’t google these motherf*ckers? What the f*ck is she talking about she didn’t know? It’s the royal family. They’re the original racists. They invented colonialism. They are the OG’s of racism. They’re the Sugarhill Gang of racism.”
The video with the full quotes can be (eventually) viewed below (Twitter videos are currently having some issues, it seems).
Chris Rock unloads on Meghan Markle and the Royal Family at his live Netflix show:
• Meghan Markle playing the victim
• Royal family are the original racists
• The colour of her and Harry’s baby#ChrisRockLive pic.twitter.com/7rBqzpIZY7— Jamie Johnson (@JamieoJohnson) March 5, 2023
As noted way above, Rock further took issue with Meghan complaining about what he called “in-law sh*t,” including her claim that a family member discussed the color of Archie’s skin while he was in utero. Rock had no sympathy there: “That’s not racist, because even Black people wanna know how Brown the baby is gonna be.”
This followed Rock’s condemnation of general society as being “addicted to attention” as they Instagrammed every mundane moment of their lives. And he leveled with the outcome of this situation: “If everybody claims to be a victim, when the real victims need help, ain’t nobody gonna be there to help them.”
First South Park called out the privacy hypocrisy of Meghan and Harry, and now this. Piers Morgan is probably having the best day of his life, but Rock and South Park are simply doing what they do, and they’re calling things out as they see them within a broader cultural context.
