Nicole Brown Simpson's sister, Tanya Brown, blasts Chris Rock over joke about her murder
The comedian made a reference to her sibling's murder in a bit about why he wouldn't return to the Oscars
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Nicole Brown Simpson's sister, Tanya Brown, expressed her anger over Chris Rock's recent joke about her sibling's brutal murder.
During Rock's Sunday night show in Phoenix, the 57-year-old comedian reportedly cracked that if he were to return to the Academy Awards after the infamous Will Smith slap incident, it would be like asking Simpson "to go back to the restaurant" where she left her eyeglasses before she was killed, per the Arizona Republic.
"Nothing funny about his joke towards Jada as she suffers from a physical condition and nothing funny about equating an Oscar host invitation to a double homicide," Tanya wrote on Instagram.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Chris Rock is facing backlash from Nicole Brown Simpson's sister, Tanya Brown, after insensitive joke. (Al Seib /AMPAS)
"I always thought he was funny, but he crossed the line with this one," the motivational speaker and life coach added.
"In other words, Y’all!!!! Stop using my sister, OJ and Ron part of your cricking comedy act. There are families behind this tragedy!" she said of Rock drawing a parallel between the slap and Brown and Ron Goldman's gruesome double homicide.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Tanya Brown, a motivational speaker and life coach, said Chris Rock "crossed the line" by drawing a parallel between the infamous Oscars slap and her sister's murder. (Greg Doherty/Getty Images)
During his comedy set, Rock told the audience that he had declined an offer to host the 2023 Oscars after being slapped onstage at the 2022 ceremony by Will Smith, who was offended over a joke that the comedian made about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
Rock made a "G.I. Jane" joke about Smith's hair. "The Nutty Professor" actress suffers from alopecia, an autoimmune disease that causes hair loss.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In June 1997, Brown and her friend, Goldman, were found stabbed to death at her home in Brentwood, California. Brown's husband and former NFL star, O.J. Simpson, was charged with the double homicide but later acquitted in a massively publicized trial.
Former NFL star O.J. Simpson was charged with murdering wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ron Goldman, but was later acquitted. O.J. and Nicole are pictured in 1994. (Vinnie Zuffante/Archive Photos/Getty Images)
Rock's joke about the murders sparked significant controversy on social media. According to a report by Entertainment Tonight, one of the trial's prosecutors, Christopher Darden, weighed in a post he shared to his private Instagram account.
"I don't advocate violence but I guess this guy hasn't learned his lesson," he wrote. "I guess Will failed to slap any sense into him."
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"I know some people who are deeply hurt and offended by this joke. Lame as it is. I mean he has every right to say what he said but maybe if some of his jokes were more general in nature and not so specific as to mock specific people," Darden's post continues.
"Nicole was somebody's mother bruh and Ron was a son and a brother, you know? Do you always have to make a joke at somebody else's expense?"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Darden added, "Ain't you learned nothing from the slap that was heard around the world?"