‘The View’ Hosts Say Chris Rock ‘Nailed’ Takedown of Will Smith

The View hosts offered their take on Chris Rock: Selective Outrage, and in their opinion Rock was “funny as hell.”

On Monday’s episode of the ABC daytime talk show, the hosts shared their thoughts on Netflix’s first-ever live streaming special and Rock’s long-awaited response to Will Smith slapping him at last year’s Oscars.

Whoopi Goldberg, Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin, Alyssa Farah Griffin, and Ana Navarro all had high praise for Rock.

“I thought Chris Rock nailed it. I thought he came back swinging, no pun intended, but I did think it was smart that he waited a year,” said Farah Griffin.

Related Story: Chris Rock Destroys Will Smith in Netflix Special

During the special, Rock joked that the slap “still hurts,” and he accused Will Smith of practicing “selective outrage.”

“Everybody knows what the f–k happened,” Rock said. “Everybody that really knows, knows I had nothing to do with that sh-t.”

Rock claimed when Smith walked on stage and slapped him at the 2022 Oscars for telling a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, the actor was actually angry about being humiliated by appearing on his wife’s Facebook Watch show, Red Table Talk, where they discussed her “entanglement” or relationship, with much-younger singer August Alsina.

Rock told the audience in Baltimore Saturday night that the couple’s private business was fair game because “for some reason, these ni–as put that sh-t on the internet.”

Farah Griffin agreed with Rock.

“I liked the line that he chose. I think we all feel gross talking about someone’s marriage, but the difference with this is Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith, they put it out on Red Table Talk,” she said.

Related Story: Jada Pinkett Smith Confirms August Alsina ‘Entanglement’ on ‘Red Table Talk’

Haines added, “I loved the line where he said, when people asked him why he didn’t swing back, why he didn’t hit back…  it’s such a powerful line of ‘I’ve got parents.'”

Navarro said parts of the special were cringey, like when Rock joked about all of the abortions he’s paid for, but she enjoyed most of it.

“I think he’s entitled to say his truth. I’m even happier that he’s making money out of it. I think the timing has everything to do with the Oscars that are next week,” Navarro said. “I think the show was funny as hell.”

Goldberg admitted she was busy Saturday night and didn’t have time to watch the entire special.

“I missed a lot of it because I was elsewhere, doing my own stuff. But there is very little that Chris Rock will do that I don’t appreciate. He doesn’t pull punches, he says what he thinks and he takes the consequences,” Goldberg stated. “This situation is never going to calm down. There is no justification for what happened.”

Still, Goldberg said she’d like to see Smith and Rock in a movie together because it would be “funny.”

Hostin called Rock “brilliant.”

“It’s taken him a year to respond, he responded on a $40 million Netflix special, which I think is brilliant, and that was his truth. That’s how he experienced it,” she said.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Rock inked a $40 million deal with Netflix in 2016, for two stand-up specials, and this was his second special. The first one, Chris Rock: Tamborine, debuted in February 2018.

So Rock made a fortune off the slap.

Watch The View segment below.