Chris Rock, who recently grabbed the world’s attention for starring in one of the most controversial moments in the history of the Oscars, recently expressed that since childhood he has constantly let people “trample on” him.
During a participation in the episode 12 of the podcast ‘Fly on the Wall’ with Dana Carvey and David Spade, last January, just two months before Will Smith slap him during the Academy Awards, Rock, aged 57, recounted being “ridiculously bullied” growing up.
The comedian said, “Half of the bullying was because I was a little boy. Then I went to school and the bullying was because I was small and black. They harassed me doubly“.
Rock said that he finally took action on the subject: “I went home, I put a brick in a backpack, this is like a legendary story in my neighborhood, I swung the backpack and hit the guy in the face with that brick and stomped on him, Joe Pesci style, until to the point where we thought he might die,” the comedian revealed to presenters David Spade and Dana Carvey.
Years later, going to therapy, Chris realized the long-term impact that the event had in his life.
“My psychiatrist told me that since that day I have been afraid of getting angry, because I am very afraid of my anger”, he commented and recalled that his therapist wanted him to get over the incident because “That guy got something out of you and you’re so scared it’s going to come out again that you let the whole world walk all over you. Your friends trample on you, your girlfriends trample on you, your relationships, the whole world tramples on you”.
The former artist from ‘Saturday Night Live’ revealed that she is now able to “get angry” and process her emotions better.
“I’m not afraid to let people know how I feel about certain things. Now I can say: ‘Hey, I don’t like what you told me’, without losing my mind, without hitting someone on the head with a brick”, he shared.
At the recent ceremony of At the Oscars, the comedian made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair, saying, “Jada, I love you. ‘GI Jane 2’, can’t wait to see you.”
The comment referred to Pinkett Smith’s hair matching Demi Moore’s shaved head in the movie ‘GI Jane’. However, Pinkett’s appearance is due to her long battle with alopecia and not a personal decision.
Seconds after the joke, Will Smith came on stage and approached Rock, hitting him in front of the public and the millions of people who watched it at home. After the incident, Smith apologized to the comedian, the Academy and the public, although he only did so through social networks