Chris Rock: Selective Outrage

One year post-slap, the comedy legend is back with a new set that's equal parts filthy, hilarious, self-serving and profound.

Chris Rock could have done a lot of things to milk the controversy when he was slapped in front of millions of people last year at the Oscars. He could have sobbed for sympathy on Oprah. He could have written a book. He could have sued Will Smith, even filed charges. Or a hundred other options to wallow in self-pity and victimhood.

Instead, he returned to his most basic instincts: turn it into comedy.

Rock spent the last year touring and honing his act for his, quote-unquote, comeback. He never really went anywhere, of course, but people have been waiting with bated breath to see what he’ll do next.

Certainly, the hype for “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage” has not been lacking. Netflix has been pushing it hard, and even rolled out its first-ever live debut of his newest special at 10 p.m. Saturday. Actually, it was more like 10:40 — I know because the pre-show act featuring lots of his friends and comedy colleagues truly stretched my patience. Everyone promised Rock would “kill,” stand-up lingo for a hilarious set.

I stayed up late to watch it all. (Yes, 11:40 p.m. is late for me these days.) I wouldn’t say Rock killed, but there was at least at least the comedic equivalent of assault & battery — mostly on Will and Jada Pinkett Smith.

Most of the set had little to do with the slap incident, and Rock only addressed it at the very end. But that’s what everyone will be talking about, so let’s go there.

If you were expecting Rock to make a contrite statement about learning and living, talk about his humiliation and say he’s ready to move on, this was not it. Instead, Rock absolutely flamed Will and Jada, calling them a pair of weirdos with sexual “entanglements” that drive their disfunction. Will is mad at Jada, but I’m the one he slapped, Rock summed up.

There was also something about a beef involving Will not getting an Oscar nomination for “Concussion” back in 2015, for which Jada somehow blames Rock for not standing up for him. It was a little hard to tell because Rock screwed up the big joke, confusing “Concussion” with Smith’s most recent film, “Emancipation.” Rock acknowledged the mistake but drove ahead, eventually sticking the landing by saying he watched “Emancipation” — in which Will plays an escaped slave — just to see that n-word get whipped.

To those who wondered whether a blow landed in the land of faked stunts was real — “Hell yes it hurt!”

Clearly, Rock is not ready to forgive and forget.

If you’re bothered by the n-word, or the curious cultural state in which we presently find ourselves in which Rock can throw it out at least a hundred times over the course of an hour but a storied New York Times reporter can get canceled merely for repeating it while counseling a student journalist, then this is not the comedy special for you.

Much of “Selective Outrage” focuses on Rock’s core riffs: sex, beautiful women, race relations and the joys and pitfalls of being rich and famous. He talks about how he spoiled his daughters but also insisted they be accountable. He also reveals something he never told his family, saying they’ll find out when they watch this special.

He has a long segment about the power of female beauty and how he claims it supersedes all other dominance structures. He notes that Beyonce could work at Burger King and still have a chance of marrying Jay-Z, but if the billionaire rapper/entrepreneur slung fries, he’d have no chance with somebody that gorgeous.

He also touched on his own situation, going through a painful divorce after a long marriage due to his own affairs and poor judgement. If you’re ever worried women have it too bad, he jokes, remember that my wife has just as much money as I do — and she isn’t funny.

There isn’t as much political stuff in the special as you might guess from the title. Being a good Hollywood liberal, Rock of course supports all the usual stuff. But he has some good bits about it going too far when even greedy corporations are getting in on the “woke” act. He points to a famous clothier selling “anti-racist yoga pants” for $100. Even Black people would rather buy racist yoga pants for 20 bucks, he says.

I’m glad Chris Rock is back, still funny and biting. “Selective Outrage” is far from his funniest special, and plenty of his jokes fall on the self-serving side. But Rock made the choice not to be a victim — maybe because his pride wouldn’t let him, or maybe because he knows you can’t pull a poor-me act and still be funny.