Topline
Netflix announced a March 4 air date for Chris Rock’s upcoming live stand-up special, the first live event for the streaming service, and the first global stage Rock will take since he was slapped by Will Smith while hosting last year’s Oscars.
Presenter Chris Rock, right, speaks onstage as Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith, bottom left, look … [+]
Key Facts
The special, Chris Rock: Selective Outrage, will be broadcast from the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 4 at 10:00 p.m. ET.
“The seven-second delay button is taking a night off,” the streamer said in the announcement, emphasizing the show will be live and uncensored.
The special will be available for Netflix subscribers to re-watch immediately after the live broadcast is over, Netflix said.
The program will go live to Netflix subscribers in 190 countries around the world.
Key Background
Rock made headlines this time last year when hosting the Oscars. While presenting an award, Rock made a joke comparing Jada Pickett Smith to G.I. Jane, a reference to her alopecia. That left her husband, fellow actor Will Smith, enraged. Smith then took to the Oscars stage and slapped Rock in the face and yelled “keep my wife’s name out your f**king mouth.” The incident left the live audience and viewers at home rattled and led to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences launching a formal review into the incident. Rock has been mostly mum on the incident, referencing it just a handful of times during his Ego Death World Tour, which he has been on since April. At his first live show after the incident, Rock reportedly said he didn’t have much to say about what happened, noting, “I’m still kind of processing what happened.”
Tangent
Netflix isn’t just offering stand-up specials live — the streaming service is also exploring offering subscribers live sports, the Wall Street Journal reported late last year. The streaming service was previously in talks to get the streaming rights for Formula One and the World Surf League.
Big Number
230.75 million. That’s how many subscribers Netflix has as of December 31, 2022.
Further Reading
Chris Rock Will Perform Netflix’s First Ever Live Stand-Up Show (Forbes)
Disney+ Loses Subscribers As Netflix Gains: Where All The Major Streaming Services Stand (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/anafaguy/2023/02/14/netflix-sets-date-for-chris-rock-special-streamers-first-live-performance/