Marlon Wayans calls his new comedy special “a love letter to Chris, Will, and Jada”
Marlon Wayans tackles the infamous Oscars Slap in his new HBO special, God Loves Me
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As Chris Rock releases a comedy special at Netflix with his own take on the events of last year’s Oscars, fellow comedian Marlon Wayans shares his own point of view on the historic Slap in his new HBO special, God Loves Me.
In an interview with The A.V. Club, Wayans describes God Loves Me as “a hilarious journey through the experience of my life and how the journey came to me after Will [Smith] slapped Chris [Rock].”
“It slapped life into me,” Wayans explains. “It made me think of my journey, and I thought about my journey with them, and I thought ‘Somebody’s got to talk about this, why not it be someone so close to it but not in it?’ I didn’t have a dog in the fight. I just spoke about it with love—it’s a love letter to Chris, Will, and Jada.”
To say it’s a “love letter” feels like a bit of an understatement, considering that Wayans’ hour-long special ceaselessly talks about the cast of characters involved in the Slap that evening.
Wayans jumps into the 2022 Oscars moment from the get-go, explaining how the slap was actually his fault because back in 1988, Wayans brother Keenen gave Rock a role originally intended for a young Marlon in I’m Gonna Git You Sucka—a role that wound up launching Rock into stardom.
“I fucking cried that day, man,” Wayans says. “Not to be a hater, but I just felt like that was my opportunity and you fucking gave it to Chris Rock.”
He then goes on to detail the other times Rock starred as the supervillain of his life, from the I’m Gonna Git You Sucka premiere, when he clowned him in front a girl he had a crush on, to when he sat front row and heckled Wayans during a comedy routine years later.
“Fast forward to March 27, 2022, approximately 10:32 p.m. Eastern Standard Time—which is 7:32 p.m. Pacific—when funny little Chris Rock cracked a joke on Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith mysteriously got up and slapped the shit out of one of the greatest comedians that ever lived,” Wayans says.
He adds, “Well, it had nothing to do with Chris, nothing to do with Will, nothing to do with Jada. I told you mother fuckers, God loves me!”
The comedian continues talking about Rock, Smith, and Pinkett Smith for the remainder of the hour, detailing his personal relationships with each of them and cracking a few more slap-related jokes.
At one point, Wayans breaks down the slap step-by-step, poking fun at Rock’s lack of reaction on stage. The crowd joins in when he yells á la Smith, “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth!”—always a good sing-along moment when reciting the story.
God Loves Me is currently streaming on HBO Max.
11 Comments
I didn’t know Marlon Wayans did comedy! Is there no beginning to his talents?
I didn’t know Marlon Wayans did comedy! Well now you know who’s responsible for that.
After the initial shock of the altercation wore off, I can say my very first thought was “I wonder what Marlon Wayans thinks about this.”Actually, I would be cool with a whole documentary, ala The Aristocrats, about where different people were and what they were thinking when they saw this seminal moment happen. It’s just too bad Gilbert Gottfried isn’t around for it.
I wonder what Pat Cooper thinks of the Slap.(I have to capitalize it?)
wtf is this corny mfer talking about? lol
Marlon Wayans is a little late to jump on this controversy for attention.
Marlon Wayans sees a dead horse, but he’s not afraid to beat it. Especially if there’s some cash in it for him.
this sounds like a very exhausting thing to watch
But what does Shawn think?
That’s a clever concept for a standup act but it feels like it would be awful to watch the whole thing.
If you see the poster ad for Marlon Wayans: God Loves Me most might think it’s just another stand up special full of random jokes for an hour. No, the entire thing is about Will Smith, Jada and Chris Rock and the slap. Marlon makes it work. He wraps up the whole thing in a nice bow. In a lot of ways it’s funnier and more insightful than the recent Chris Rock stand up special.