Twitter has Thoughts on resurfaced video of Louis CK, Ricky Gervais, and Chris Rock saying the N-word
In 2011, Louis CK, Ricky Gervais, and Chris Rock all sat together in a room and tossed around the N-word while a visibly uncomfortable Jerry Seinfeld watched.
It was a moment from HBO's unscripted comedy special, Talking Funny, in which the four comics sat together and pondered their work in stand-up. It's not a new video. But it's newly resurfaced, and its rediscovered existence has raised quite a ruckus.
On the one hand, you have two white men dropping the N-word repeatedly as they discuss the word's use, or lack thereof, in their work. And on the other, you have Rock sitting right there, laughing along with and encouraging the tangential exploration of a horrible slur's comedic value while two of the white men sitting beside him say it again and again.
Seinfeld appears to be the only voice of reason in the room. After remaining largely silent for most of the conversation, he weighs in toward the end after CK points to his own use of the N-word as emblematic of the difference between Seinfeld's work and CK's.
"Well, you've found the humor of [using that word]," Seinfeld responds. "I haven't found it. Nor do I seek it."
Again: this happened in 2011. And this clip hasn't exactly been a hard thing to find in the years since. That's not an excuse for anything that was said, but it's been around for a while.
You can check out the video for yourself, but note the content warning here. The N-word flies frequently in this video, with CK and Gervais specifically repeating it multiple times.
Those are the facts of the situation. The response is more complicated, and naturally people took to working those thoughts out on Twitter Saturday night, with many frustrated and angry at Chris Rock, in addition to CK and Gervais, obviously.
Some threads that highlight a few common thoughts:
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Mashable reached out to Rock to see if he has any hindsight thoughts to share on the video as he looks back on it now in 2018.
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
