So far Chris Rock has remained fairly mum about the racial controversy surrounding the 2016 Oscars. The A-list comedian is known for his political humor, so it was no surprise when Friday morning, two days before the big day, he tweeted: “See you Sunday … #blackout #oscars,” along with a video showing a television blackout.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Rock joked “I’m hosting the Ocscars, someone at ABC is going to get fired for this.”
He later said, “Let’s get this straight, I’m only hosting because Ellen said no.”
Rock is known not to hold his tongue on racial issues and has been extremely vocal on the recent cases of police brutality against Blacks. His ability to take hard-hitting social issues and make fun of them while offering his own opinion without apology is something that has made him legendary as a comedian, so it is unlikely that Rock wouldn’t tackle the #Oscarssowhite debate as he hosts the show this year. With some members of the African American community lobbying for Rock to step down as host this year, and others suggesting a boycott of the entire production, it’s likely that Rock will set the record straight with his perspective when he graces the stage on Sunday.
Before doing the spread for The Hollywood Reporter, Rock was shot for an Essence magazine cover, which hit newsstands earlier this month. He told Essence he planned to do his best at hosting but wasn’t delusional about the idea there could be problems. “It could go horribly wrong. Don’t ever think that it can’t. That’s when it goes wrong — when you don’t think there’s any chance of it going wrong. If you know it won’t, it probably won’t.”
Rock is one of the few A-list Black actors that has consistently been vocal about the lack of diversity in Hollywood.
“I’ve never done a movie, any movie, the silliest movie, where someone, some studio person hasn’t gone, ‘Does the girl have to be Black?’ It happens every time. Black women get paid less than everybody in Hollywood. Everybody’s talking about Jennifer Lawrence. Talk to Gabrielle Union. If you want to hear stories, talk to Nia Long. Talk to Kerry Washington. They would love to get to Jennifer Lawrence’s place, or just be treated with the same amount of respect,” Rock shared in the Essence cover article.
Chris Rock will host the Oscars, Sunday, Feb. 28 at 8:30 p.m. EST on ABC. In the meantime, we’ll stay tuned to his Twitter for more clues about his much-anticipated monologue.
(The 88th Academy Awards pre-show airs live on ABC Sunday, Feb. 28, at 7 p.m. EST. West Coast viewers can tune in at 4 p.m. PT. The show will start at 8:30 p.m. EST.)
