Chris Rock this week said that Hollywood exposes a dark “underbelly” in Los Angeles that people want to pretend doesn’t exist.
“L.A. is a complicated place, man,” the comedian said in an interview with Variety that was published on Tuesday. “Fame’s a complicated thing. I’ve seen the switch in my lifetime.”
The 61-year-old said that people who came to Hollywood used to want to be “great — a great singer, great actor, great comedian. Now it’s just fame, and the greatness is almost assumed.”
“I mean, you’re always gonna be outed at some point if you don’t have the goods,” he continued. “But L.A. is the mecca of that. It can be beautiful. It’s got the best weather in the world. But it also attracts an underbelly that people want to pretend doesn’t exist.”
Rock said he has a home in both New York and Los Angeles, adding that loves “parts” of the West Coast city.
The comedian jokes that he “winters” in California.
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The “Everybody Hates Chris” star is directing an indie movie right now, “Misty Green,” about a has-been actress living in Los Angeles who’s now broke.
Rock said that movie is “a lot of it’s about L.A. L.A. has got very wonky priorities. There’s a real estate office on the same street as The Ivy on Robertson, and in the window, there are houses for $30-$40 million. In the window. But there’s a homeless guy sleeping right outside. The movie is about that crazy dichotomy.”
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Rock also reflected on getting slapped by Will Smith at the Academy Awards in 2022 while he was presenting.
“I wish nothing would have happened,” he said of incident in which Smith, who went on to win best actor right after, told Rock, “Keep my wife’s name out your f—–g mouth!” after the comedian made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith.
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“It’s a crazy world,” Rock continued to Variety. “We walk by homeless people. There’s all sorts of s–t going on right now. Me having a bad day is not the biggest — it’s not that important.”
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Rock added that he also wouldn’t return to the Oscars unless he was nominated.
“I’m not getting nominated,” he said. “The only way I’ll go back is if I’m nominated, and I’m not getting nominated. And that’s OK. We’ll deal with that if it happens. Like, let’s manage expectations.”