Chris Rock to finally have his say in new stand-up special
Published:Saturday | March 4, 2023 | 3:33 PM
A year after Will Smith smacked him on the Academy Awards stage, Chris Rock is poised to finally have his say.
The 58-year-old comedian on Saturday night will perform his first stand-up special since last year's Oscars.
He's doing it in “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage,” streaming live on Netflix at 10 p.m. EST.
Not only will Rock present about an hour of stand-up from the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, but Netflix — in its first ever live show — will bookend the special with star-studded commentary.
The pre-show, beginning at 9:30 p.m., will feature Paul McCartney, Jerry Seinfeld, Matthew McConaughey, Cedric the Entertainer, Ice-T and two hosts from last year's Oscars: Wanda Sykes and Amy Schumer. Afterward Rock's set, Dana Carvey and David Spade will host guests including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Arsenio Hall and JB Smoove.
While Smith has apologised and repeatedly spoken about the incident since last March, Rock has avoided all the usual platforms where celebrities often go to air their feelings. He never sat down with Oprah Winfrey, and turned away the many media outlets that would have loved to land an exclusive in-depth interview.
Instead, Rock has for much of the past year been touring new material in a long string of performances as part of his Ego Death tour.
The shows, which had been announced before the 2022 Oscars, have featured performances with Dave Chappelle and Kevin Hart.
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