Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider, and other comedians spoke up in defense of Chris Rock and his jokes about Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith in his new “Selective Outrage” Netflix comedy special, according to The Daily Caller.
“He’s able to take really complex societal ideas and make them hilarious and bring us on board to some place of sanity, some place of reason,” fellow “Saturday Night Live” alum Schneider said. “He’s so hilariously reasonable. He subverts us to his point of view, and that’s his genius. And modern comedy changed after Chris Rock, truthfully, 25 years ago.”
“That was just pure unadulterated Chris Rock brilliance, the entire thing. He was on point and that’s really difficult, what he did,” added Dana Carvey.
Sandler was even more effusive in his praise. “I thought he was unbelievably relaxed, funny, thoughtful,” Sandler said. “Crushed it and was real to himself.” But Sandler wasn’t done: “And it was as exciting to watch as when the Super Bowl is on. I thought about it all weekend. ‘All right, Rock is doing his thing tonight!’ Sat, watched it in my kitchen, laughed my ass off, immediately watched it right after. It was one of the best experiences. I thought it was amazing.”
Sandler’s comments came on the red carpet Sunday in Washington, D.C., during interviews preceding his receipt of the 2023 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, who Time named one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2021, were said to be very “hurt” and “embarrassed” by Rock’s jokes, the New York Post reported. Smith thinks “that’s enough” and wants Rock to “let it go” and “move on,” a source reported. Megyn Kelly provided a one-word response to Smith’s alleged lamentations: “Dude.”
Rock told his Netflix special audience, “Anybody that says words hurt has never been punched in the face. Words hurt when you write them on a brick.”
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