Topics: Celebrity, Chris Rock, Entertainment, Oscars, Will Smith, Film and TV
Comedian Chris Rock has recalled being bullied as a child and described long having let people 'walk all over' him.
The Grown Ups actor, who is now 57 years old, grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and reflected on being 'bullied ridiculously' throughout his childhood during a recent episode of the podcast Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade.
Speaking to the two hosts, Rock, who is now a father himself, explained 'half of the bullying' was because he was 'just a little guy'.
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"Then I got bused to school and the bullying was because I was little guy and I was Black. I was getting double bullied," he said.
The podcast episode was released in January, a few weeks before Rock was slapped by actor Will Smith in front of millions of people on stage at the Oscars.
Rock commented on Jada Pinkett Smith's hair loss at the event, and jokingly said 'uh oh' as he saw Smith walk up on stage to join him. He then appeared shocked and disorientated as Smith slapped him across the face and told him not to say his wife's name.
The comedian has not yet spoken publicly about what happened, but declined to press charges against Smith for his actions. In the immediate aftermath of the slap, Rock assured Smith he wouldn't comment on his wife and appeared unsure of himself as he sought to get things back on track and hand out the Oscar for best documentary.
Reflecting on his childhood with Carvey and Spade, Rock remembered at the time he decided to take matters into his own hands by putting a brick into his bag and 'smack[ing] the guy in the face with this brick'.
"[I] stomped on him, Joe Pesci-style, to the point that we thought he might die," Rock said.
It wasn't until later, as he was undergoing therapy, that Rock realised the impacts the events had on his life.
He explained: "Long story short, from that day on, as my shrink puts it to me, you have been scared to be angry ever since. The guy you saw was bending over backwards to be nice because I was so scared of my anger."
Rock said his therapist wanted him to move past the incident, telling him: "This guy brought something out in you and you're so scared of that thing coming out of you again that you let the whole world walk all over you. Your friends walk over you, your family walks over you, your female relationships – everybody just f***s you over."
As a result of the incident, Rock is now able to better process his emotions and said he is 'not scared of letting people know how I feel about certain things'.
"Now, I can say, 'Hey I don't like what you said to me,' without losing my head, without hitting someone on the head with a frickin' brick," he added.
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