Chris Rock speaks candidly about the importance of forgiveness in a world so quick to cancel others.
During a recent appearance on “The Daily” podcast, the 61-year-old comedian opened up about his “woke” issues, saying that while standing up for marginalized people and giving them a voice is great, it has to come with forgiveness.
“The problem with awakening is that we are in the Old Testament right now,” he said. “And the Old Testament has no forgiveness. The Old Testament didn’t work. So they had to write a remix called the New Testament.”
Host David Marchese then asked if he thought there was “anything redeeming” coming out of the post-George Floyd era, which he called “woke 1.0,” as Democratic politicians now appear to be moving further away from that ideology.
The “Grown Ups” star reiterated her stance that “it’s great to help those who need help” but noted that the problem arises “when you institutionalize it.”
“The Salem Witch Hunt. I’m sure the first three witches captured were actually fucking witches,” he said. “But then you open a witch bureau and now you have to start lying. Now you have to do shit because you have overhead. You have to justify witch hunters who have pensions and shit.”
He explained that just because he advocates forgiveness “doesn’t mean condoning abusive behavior. You can scold your friends,” adding that holding them accountable is “also part of friendship.”
“If you’re only friends with your friends when they’re good, they’re not your friends,” he said.
While he admits there is room for improvement when it comes to cancel culture and wokeness, he noted that he’s “glad this all happened” because it allowed some voices to be heard that otherwise might not have been heard.
Kaivan Shroff — a former member of Hillary Clinton’s campaign — disagreed with Rock, telling Fox News Digital that the comedian “oversimplifies things in a pretty selfish way.”
“Sometimes the problem isn’t that people ‘take a joke out of context.’ Often the context is perfectly clear and the comedian knows exactly who the joke is aimed at, knows that many people will find it offensive, and is counting on that discomfort to make the material edgy or viral,” Shroff said. “You can’t use outrage as part of the act and then act in shock when outrage ensues.”
Rock is currently promoting his new film, “Misty Green,” which he wrote, directed and starred in.
The film follows an award-winning actress, Misty Green, who works hard to make a comeback after years of watching her career slowly fade, with Rock playing a casting director who once worked with the actress.
“I’m really big on expiration dates. I have a lot of friends who are in their 50s or whatever and there’s this thing that everyone tells you: ‘You can make art forever.’ And that’s just not true,” he said. “And a lot of show business does it, like you have to hit certain plateaus at a certain time or you’re going to get in trouble. So yeah, Misty is turning 40 and there’s a little expiration date coming up here. I wanted to make a film about Hollywood. I wanted to make a film about the expiration dates we all have. “
He said he also wanted to make a film about Los Angeles, calling it “a tale of two cities”, noting that although there was “sunshine and palm trees”, people were “constantly stepping on homeless people”.
The actor previously spoke about the message he wanted to send while filming the film, telling Variety in September that much of the film was about Los Angeles, which he called a “complicated place” that “attracts an underbelly that people want to pretend doesn’t exist.”
“A lot of it is that LALA has some very shaky priorities,” he said. “There’s a real estate agency on the same street as The Ivy on Robertson, and in the window there are houses for $30 million to $40 million. In the window. But there’s a homeless guy sleeping right outside. The movie is about this crazy dichotomy.”
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