The hot topic of the week continues to be the Chris Rock/Will Smith shocker at this year's Oscars ceremony, but it's not the first time seasoned comedian Rock has made people wince with his hard takes on controversial topics. It's not even the first time he's had a pop at Jada Pinkett-Smith - he previously did so back in 2016 when the Girls Trip actress and her husband boycotted the Academy Awards ceremony due to the lack of diversity.
Rock is known for his no-holds-barred jokes in a stand-up career that has lasted almost three decades. And back in 2018 the comedian visited Cardiff and banned the audience from accessing their mobile phones during the show, more about that, here.
Smith has since apologised for storming on stage at Sunday's Oscars and slapping Rock for his 'GI Jane 2' reference aimed at Jada due to her shaved head - the actress has alopecia. Smith posted on Instagram: "I would like to publicly apologise to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong,” wrote the King Richard actor, who went on to claim his first acting Oscar after the ugly incident.
Read more : Twitter user @willsmith bombarded with abuse after the real Will Smith slaps Chris Rock
But as Rock is known for sailing close to the bone, while being open and honest about his own shortcomings in life, let's take a look at some more moments which the 57-year-old has hit the headlines for.
Porn addiction
He admitted in his 2018 Netflix special Chris Rock: Tamborine, that he had his own struggles, including an addiction to porn.
He said: “I was not a good husband. I was f***ed-up. I was addicted to porn. I know, billion-dollar industry, just me, right? I was addicted to porn and, you know, I was 15 minutes late everywhere."
He added: “What happens when you watch too much porn is you get desensitised.”
He cheated on his wife
Rock was married for 20 years from 1996 to Malaak Compton and the couple have two daughters, but it wasn't just a porn addiction which led his marriage to end, the star admitted he cheated.
Again in his Tamborine Rock special, the actor and comic admitted the fame and success went to his head. He said: “I’m a f***ing a**hole, man. I didn’t listen. I wasn’t kind. I cheated. Yeah, I’m serious. I’m not bragging. I’d go on the road, end up sleeping with three different women. It’s, like, f***ed up.
“When guys cheat, we want something new. But then your woman finds out, and now she’s new. She’s never the same again. So, now you got new, but you got bad new. You got bad f***ing new, man.”
His 'black people v N-word' routine from his 1996 Bring the Pain routine
Back in the '90s Rock's career took off after the success of his controversial routine, which later he admitted he stopped performing because the wrong people were taking advantage of his observations. Speaking to CBS’ 60 Minutes, Rock explained how the wrong people had started to exploit it amid worries that it might have justified racists’ views.
He said: “I've never done that joke again, ever, and I probably never will. Cause some people that were racist thought they had license to say n-----. So, I'm done with that routine."
The routine was later referenced by former US president Barack Obama, who used a message from Rock's routine during a speech about people going to jail.
Obama said: “Chris Rock had a routine. He said some — too many of our men, they’re proud, they brag about doing things they’re supposed to do. They say “Well, I- I’m not in jail.” Well you’re not supposed to be in jail!”
His views on 'cancel culture'
Speaking on New York's Breakfast Club radio programme, Rock said: "It’s weird when you’re a comedian because when you’re a comedian when the audience doesn’t laugh, we get the message. You don’t really have to cancel us because we get the message. They’re not laughing.
“Some people need to be looked out for,” he continued, “I definitely understand that. What happens is everybody gets safe and when everybody gets safe and nobody tries anything, things get boring. Everybody’s scared to make a move."
Joking about friend Whitney Housten's drug use
Also back in 2016. Rock shared a meme which read: 'Me sitting in a meeting that could've been an e-mail,' along with a photo of the singer wearing sunglasses. But it was the caption that caused Houston's ex, Bobby Brown to clap back as it read: 'Hurry up I got crack to smoke.' Bobby Brown added a comment: "During this time of women empowerment you chose to use your time to try and humiliate our QUEEN!!! I thought you was a friend of the family."
Using offensive Asian stereotypes at the Oscars
When he was hosting back in 2016, the stand-up introduced three children of east Asian descent who had put together the Oscars' results on stage as 'the accountants' before dubbing them 'Ming Zhu, Bao Ling, and David Moskowitz'.
He went on to poke the bear by adding: "If anyone is upset about that joke you can tweet about it on your phone, which was also made by these kids."
