Comedians and their jokes continue to make for a hot topic.
During a recent appearance on the “Ebro in the Morning” radio show, comedian Bill Bellamy spoke about the fine line that jokes often tiptoe along. Using the controversial encounter Will Smith and Chris Rock had at the Oscars this year, Bellamy said it is not always easy for a comedian to ascertain when the line of offensiveness is being crossed.
“You know, you never know where the line is but you play it, right?” Bellamy told the hosts. In March during the live telecast of the awards ceremony, Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s new bald look. The joke did not fare well with the “Red Table Talk” host, and as a result, her husband took matters of dealing with the out-of-line joke into his own hands, literally. As Rock stood on stage preparing to announce the winner for the best documentary feature, Smith angrily approached him and served the comedian an open-handed whack to the face.
Further elaborating on his perspective of Smith and Rock’s incident, Bellamy added, “I don’t think that Chris Rock was trying to be malicious, bro. He was just shooting jokes boom, boom, boom,” he said. “Every now and then a joke go left, let’s be honest. Sometimes it ain’t that funny if it’s too soon, or it’s too crazy, right? But like, to assault somebody, that don’t make no sense especially when you know at the end of this we gon’ be at the after-party and you can be like, ‘Yo, B, man that’s crazy. Can you apologize to my wife? She’s feeling crazy.’ And I would apologize if I said something to your wife that wasn’t right.”
Several other comedians and celebrities have been outspoken with their thoughts on the viral moment. Rock, however, has largely remained mum. The comedian is currently on a joint comedy tour with Kevin Hart. While performing his set at Madison Square Garden, Rock made light of being struck by the “King Richard” Oscar winner. Sources who spoke with “Entertainment Tonight” said, Rock got a rise out of the audience when he said, “Anyone who says words hurt has never been punched in the face.”
