So I decided to separate the two, and before I knew it, I had an hour in this Chris, Will and Jada thing. ( Laughs) I need to explore this.” I did Netflix Is a Joke in April, and I had all this material - an hour and a half - and the set all blended, but it was bifurcated. I was like, “Sorry, Ma, I’m gonna put you to the side for a second. I was actually doing a set about my mom, and dealing with the grief of losing my mother. What’s my experience in the industry? What’s my experience as a Black person? What do white people feel? Before I knew it, I had an hour of material. I got what’s my experience with Jada, and then what’s my experience with Will. I kept exploring the truth and it became like a Rubik’s cube to me. So I did that and by the end of the week, I had 15 minutes. I had five minutes of thoughts, and I like to speak truth onstage and see where it goes. I was doing a show in Oxnard that weekend, and I talked about it onstage at the Improv. See, everybody’s a friend, so I texted Will and was like, “Are you OK?” Chris, I was like, “Where’s your face?” ( Laughs.) And I said, “Are you OK?” I swear I watched it like everybody else. When did you decide this special was going to be about the slap, and did HBO Max have any questions about that? As much as he argues comedy should be allowed to be cutting and unapologetic, that’s where he says he draws the line - coming from someone who quit stand-up for decades over swipes from Rock.Īhead of the March 2 release of his special, The Hollywood Reporter spoke to Wayans about why he decided to dedicate an entire hour to something that happened to people he knows, why comedians can’t apologize (but others should) and if something positive can come from “the wrong response on the best day.” The one thing he doesn’t touch is Pinkett-Smith’s alopecia. In God Loves Me, he explains how the event is actually about comedy itself, mental health, a white-dominated industry that has made and unmade Black men, and why the path that you ultimately land on is the right one for you.įully financed and produced by the comedian, Wayans addresses these subjects while unpacking the questions and differing opinions offered up in the hours, days and months following the incident. It also arrives just over a week before this year’s Oscars, which has seen Academy leadership in its run-up make multiple promises and changes to the show following criticism of how it handled the incident last year.įor Wayans, whose Atlanta-filmed special is debuting almost a year to the day after that fateful hour, “Slapgate” is bigger than those three people he’s known (and even joked about the slap with) for most of his life as part of the Wayans comedy dynasty. It’s the central topic of Wayans’ third hourlong special for the streamer, which arrives just days ahead of Rock’s anticipated live Netflix special, Selective Outrage - anticipated because Rock is expected to speak publicly (beyond that smattering of one-off comedy club jokes) about being slapped by Smith on the Dolby Theater stage during Hollywood’s biggest event. Sesame Street Getting "Reimagined" for Season 56 (Exclusive) Despite juggling multiple tasks over the course of his conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Wayans remains clear-headed and unguarded while discussing his relationship to Chris Rock, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith, the three Hollywood names involved in one of last year’s most sensitive subjects: the Oscars slap. The conversation wraps after he’s back home to prepare for an event, the background clanking now from dishes in his kitchen. “I feel like the gym is the one hour I get to myself to just think about all the fucking work I have to do.” When Marlon Wayans answers the phone to talk about his new HBO Max special God Loves Me, clanking noises fill the background.
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