Rock's extensive reaction to the Oscars slap in the highly rated special is making headlines and drawing condemnation from critics like Candace McDuffie of The Root, who penned a post in response, and others blasting Rock's targeting of Black people in his humor before white audiences.
Nevertheless, a joke that was originally in the special was cut because Rock missed the comedy's punchline.
Of the more controversial quips, "My whole life I root for this motherf***r" refers to the upcoming 2022 Smith epic Emancipation. Okay. The only reason I keep watching Emancipation is to see him get beaten up. I'm a Massa fan now. Okay. In other words, "Give it to him again, Massa!" Go back on him with another blow! There's a gap there, Massa. You omitted an important detail.
Maybe Rock was thinking about that joke when he confused Smith's filmography in the course of delivering an earlier joke in which he mocks Jada Pinkett Smith for trying to convince him to cancel the Oscar-hosting gig in 2016 since Smith wasn't nominated for the picture Concussion. Her man wasn't nominated for Liberation, so I shouldn't host. That's the biggest pile of garbage ever! Okay. Indeed, that's not all. A ni**a knocks the crap out of me and gives me a concussion. We're not talking about Liberation here. I totally botched the joke. Concussion?"
Rock reracked the joke and repeated the last line, despite having already delivered it. “She f***ing said "He should retire since Will didn't get nominated for concussion," Rock remarked. Really, what the f***? And what the f*** is up with that? I make jokes about it because, really, who gives a f***? That's how she kicks things off, actually. The task is completed by me. Okay. So that's what the hell ended up taking place. No one is picking on this d**k. That whole mess was her idea. There was no one to harass her. To top it all off, this nigga gives me a concussion after telling me that I, a grown man, should quit my job because her spouse wasn't nominated for a concussion. Okay. Whoa, what the f*** are you talking about, man?
The special's playback recording originally included the botched joke, but it has since been removed.
