A tweet made by Tony Rock yesterday (March 29) picked up steam today and it placed his brother in the crosshairs of critics. Chris Rock has been the talk of the town this week after he was slapped by Will Smith on the Oscars stage and his peers have come forward in droves as they offer support. Smith has been called out over his actions and his Oscar win for Best Actor is being called into question, and prior to Rock speaking about the incident at his comedy show this evening, his brother Tony took to Twitter.
Comedian Tony Rock answered a few questions from fans yesterday while also tweeting, “Be sure to watch ‘Good Hair’ since the narrative is now changed to all my bro does is disrespect women of color.” He is referencing the 2009 Chris Rock-produced documentary Good Hair where Rock traveled the country and spoke with Black women about the importance of their hair in their culture.
Good Hair was controversial when it was released and it has continued to cause debates. Tony’s tweet sparked a fire on social media and soon, the Rock brothers found themselves on the receiving end of blistering observations. Sheila Bridges, a woman who suffers from alopecia and also starred in Good Hair, took to Instagram to condemn Smith’s actions while having fiery words for Rock, as well.
“I am not completely surprised that Chris Rock got rocked by Will Smith after making the medical condition of @jadapinkettsmith part of his comedic schtick — disrespecting her publicly,” Bridges wrote. “Shame on you @chrisrock. Didn’t we sit down and talk at length about how painfully humiliating and difficult it is to navigate life as a bald woman in a society that is hair obsessed? As if life isn’t challenging enough out here as an unprotected black woman?”
Good Hair has been a trending topic all day as thousands of people weigh in about the feature. While it seems that Tony’s intent was to redeem his brother by pointing out the documentary, it didn’t quite work out that way. Meanwhile, Rock has promised to address his Oscars incident in due time.