Just how long have Chris Rock and Will Smith been professional rivals?
And there is something about your dad dying that makes you go, 'What's the point?'"
Eventually, Chris' worldview shifted.
As he told Oprah in a magazine interview,
"After I lost my dad, I realized that none of us should take things too seriously, because
everything except death works itself out.
Everything.
No matter what happens or how difficult things become, you will eventually feel better."
Chris has passed his father's lessons on to his own kids, like making sure not to get
caught in the wrong places.
"In my neighborhood, I remember being on the corner a couple of times, and the next thing
I know, I'm in a police lineup."
Chris Rock was relentlessly bullied as a child.
As he said on "Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade,"
"Half of the bullying was because I was just a little guy.
And then I got bussed to school, so I was a little guy and I was Black."
The bullying only got worse as Rock grew older.
In an appearance on "The Howard Stern Show" in 2020, Rock alluded to the abuse sometimes
being sexual in nature.
According to Oprah, things got so bad that Rock dropped out of high school in 10th grade.
Years later, Rock saw one of his childhood bullies working on the set of one of his films.
Rather than boot him from the production, Rock politely acknowledged his former tormenter.
He quipped to Stern,
"You know when Elmer Fudd got really mad?
When Bugs Bunny kissed him."
Rock told The Hollywood Reporter that as an adult, he got into therapy after being diagnosed
with a nonverbal learning disorder and recognizing he had a lot of emotional baggage to unpack.
He said in a Telegraph interview, "Success does not erase trauma.
So I definitely had to go back through therapy and really go through my childhood."
Rock's close friend Chris Farley died of a drug overdose in 1997.
Rock opened up about this loss in a 2021 Esquire interview, saying,
"I don't know if you've ever really hung out with an addict.
Towards the end, anything that isn't the drug is a chore."
Rock recalled a visit to Farley's apartment where he thought,
"'That's probably the last time I'm going to see him.'
I knew."
Even though things eventually got difficult, Rock remembers his friendship with Farley
fondly.
He said of their time sharing an office at "Saturday Night Live" with Adam Sandler and
David Spade,
"We called it a dorm.
We're friends to this day.
I love those guys."
Fans were shocked to learn of Chris Rock's 2014 filing for divorce from Malaak Compton-Rock
after nearly two decades of marriage.
But soon enough, secrets began to emerge.
In a stand-up special a few years later, Chris admitted to having at least three affairs,
Today reported.
According to Rolling Stone, he said two of the women are at least somewhat famous.
TMZ notes the divorce was finalized in 2016.
On a 2021 episode of "The Tonight Show," Chris shared a piece of advice he gave to John Mulaney
after he announced his own divorce:
"This is how much money I lost in my divorce: I recommended my ex-wife's divorce lawyer.
That's how bad."
According to Rolling Stone, Chris said that the custody hearing for the couple's two daughters
was probably the most emotionally taxing part of the divorce process.
Chris did his best to remedy the situation:
"All my friends assume I moved into the city after my divorce, away from my girls.
When I say I bought a house around the corner, it blows their minds."
Like it or not, Chris Rock and Will Smith will likely be forever linked by the infamous
2022 Oscar slap.
But their connection goes back way before that.
In 1995, Rock landed a guest spot on Smith's sitcom, "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."
Rock has starred in the "Madagascar" movies alongside Will's wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith.
Rock told David Letterman that he'd felt the need to compete with Will for most of his
career.
"The guy's already taken parts from me, now his kids are taking parts from my kids?
[...] Will Smith, don't you have enough?"
As the Daily Beast noted, Rock once made a joke about Jada on "The Chris Rock Show" in
1997.
Years later, at the 2016 Oscars, he mocked her again, this time zeroing in on her decision
to boycott the ceremony.
The couple shrugged off the jab at the time, but it seems that Rock's hair joke a few years
later pushed Will over the edge.
Will has since publicly apologized.
In September of 2021, Chris Rock contracted COVID-19.
He tweeted shortly after his diagnosis:
"Hey guys I just found out I have COVID, trust me you don't want this.
Get vaccinated."
Rock had already been pretty serious about vaccines before getting COVID.
When Gayle King asked if he had any hesitation about the vaccine, he quipped,
"Do I know what's in Tylenol?
I don't know what's in Tylenol, Gayle.
I just know my headache's gone."
After he recovered from COVID, Rock opened up about his experience during a stand-up
set.
It's safe to say he was not a fan.
Page Six quoted him as saying,
"I'm back from the dead!
I had COVID.
It wasn't quite as hard as being Black, but it was close.
[...] That's why everyone's trying to avoid it, man."
Nearly three decades after his father died, Chris Rock's mother, Rose Rock, was diagnosed
with breast cancer.
Chris acted as her caretaker.
As he told Rolling Stone in 2017, he feared she did not have much time left.
He said,
"There were days where I just prayed she would die when [my daughters] were at their mother's.
I didn't want them to see that."
But Rose survived, hopefully ensuring we'll hear more quips like this one she made to
WPDE ABC15 in 2012: "My claim to fame really is being Chris Rock's
mom.
But I'm so much more than that, and I'm so over everybody calling me Chris Rock's mom."
Eventually, Rose moved on to more serious topics, like raising her family after the
death of her husband, Julius.
"It wasn't easy, but like I said, it's not supposed to be easy."
If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available.
Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact
SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).