Chris Rock said he was warned not to make any Jussie Smollett jokes from the stage at the NAACP Image Awards on Saturday, but it seems the comedian just couldn’t help himself.
“They said no Jussie Smollett jokes,” Rock said before spending the rest of his time at the mic mocking the embattled “Empire” star. “What a waste of light skin. You know what I could do with that light skin? That curly hair? My career would be out of here. I would be running Hollywood.”
“What the hell was he thinking?” he continued. “You are ‘Jessie’ from now on. You don’t even get the ‘u’ anymore. That ‘u’ is respect. You ain’t getting no respect from me.”
Smollett was absent from the NAACP Image Awards festivities over the weekend, despite having been nominated for his role on the Fox music drama. The actor ultimately lost his category to “Grey’s Anatomy” star Jesse Williams.
Click the link below to watch/hear Rock’s comments.
https://twitter.com/tvonetv/status/1112175037094612993
Smollett was accused by Chicago police of paying two men to stage a Jan. 31 hate crime to gin up public attention because he was dissatisfied with his pay on the show. Prosecutors initially charged him with 16 felony counts related to filing a false police report, but those charges were dropped after the actor served two days of community service and forfeited his $10,000 cash bond payment to the city.
The actor has maintained his innocence throughout the investigation.