Chris Rock Called Out By Michael Jackson’s Nephew Over Insensitive Joke

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 27: Chris Rock speaks onstage during the 94th Annual Academy Awards at Dolby Theatre on March 27, 2022 in Hollywood, California.
(Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
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Over the weekend Chris Rock’s special Selective Outrage premiered live on Netflix and it was met with mixed reviews and reactions. 

One person who did not appreciate the jokes made by the comedian was Michael Jackson’s nephew, Taj Jackson. During the opening segment of the special, Rock joked about his problem with “selective outrage”, and use the late King of Pop and R. Kelly as examples.

“The thing I have a problem with is the selective outrage, selective outrage. Everybody, you know what I’m talking about,” the comedian said. “One person does something, they get canceled. Somebody else does the exact same thing—NOTHING. You know what I’m talking about. You know, like the kind of people that play Michael Jackson songs but won’t play R. Kelly. Same crime, one of them just got better songs.”

Taj Jackson responded to the joke via Twitter and said, “Chris Rock has used my family as punching bags for his entire career. Yet I am supposed to feel bad for him getting slapped and humiliated on the Oscars,” he wrote. 

In the same tweet, Jackson went on to thank Will Smith for slapping Chris Rock over the joke he made about Jada Pinkett- Smith during last year’s Oscar award show. See the entire tweet below. 

Did you watch Chris Rock’s Selective Outrage? What were your thoughts about it?