NEW YORK — At the premiere of his new film, “Top Five,” Chris Rock addressed the controversy surrounding his recent essay in The Hollywood Reporter.
The 49-year-old star doesn’t see it as a courageous act; rather he was stating the facts about being black in the entertainment industry.
In the essay, Rock questions how a “liberal town” like Hollywood is also “kind of racist” when it comes to hiring practices and diversity.
He called Hollywood: “A white industry. Just as the NBA is a black industry.”
Rock told The Associated Press he was merely speaking from the heart.
“I don’t look at it as even being political. I’m just stating the facts. I’m not trying to be political at all, that’s (Jon) Stewart, that’s (Bill) Maher, that’s, you know, not me,” Rock said.
Rock also reacted to last Wednesday’s grand jury decision in New York not to indict a white police officer in the chokehold death of a black Staten Island man last summer. That altercation was captured on video with the suspect screaming, “I can’t breathe.
“It’s sad when something is on videotape. It’s sad,” Rock said
John Carucci, Associated Press
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