Despite all the tomato flinging that went on today about The Hollywood Awards, from Johnny Depp’s loopy presentation to the show’s rocky ratings, one of the more intriguing moments last night occurred after the kudo ceremony in CBS Hollywood After Party, when Chris Rock got candid with CBS This Morning host Charlie Rose. Rock explained to Rose how the racial slurs he heard as a kid, shaped him as a laser-sharp stand-up. “Seinfeld says you can do race better than anyone else,” observed Rose about the stand-up, to which Rock responded, “I’m from that era. I was bused to school in 1973…I was called N*****r all the time by students, teachers, janitors. I know it, I really, really know it.” Rose also shared some of the great criticism that’s coming out about Rock’s new directorial feature Top Five, exclaiming, “They’re saying for the first time you’ve made a movie that’s as good as your stand-up.” In the Paramount comedy, Rock plays a version of himself; a celebrity who endures the challenges of showbiz.
“(Black people) want to know that Denzel loves his people. That’s he doing stuff for his people. They feel his highs and lows more than white people. If Tom Hanks does a bad movie, there’s gonna be another good movie by somebody white next week. If Denzel does a bad movie, I might not see a good black movie for a year.”
Source: Deadline/ CBS
