Good evening, I'm Greg Gumbel.
This afternoon, Chris Rock,
The controversial comedian and host of "The Chris Rock show,"
was shot, an apparent casualty
in the ongoing East Coast, West Coast comedy war.
The comedy war, which has raged over the last five years
Has already claimed the lives of over 30 stand-up comics,
ranging from satirists to impressionists.
Some, such as Nipsey Russell, are missing and presumed dead.
Right now, we're starting to get reactions from friends
and family to the Chris Rock shooting.
Hey, you know, we all prayin' for Chris-- you know what I'm saying?
Because he's a strong brother.
I know 'cause I shot him several times myself
when we was kids, you know, and he always pulled through.
I just hope Chris is feeling better.
This whole East Coast, West Coast comedy thing has gotten out of hand.
I got my own problems though, I mean.
Like right now, there's a war going on between the WB and the UPN.
Everybody's throwing gang signs. WB, UPN, fool!
And that's just the executives.
Throughout this war, the comedy community
has continued to express its shock and outrage at these shootings.
Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I just don't get it.
You got comics killin' comics, rappers killin' rappers.
In my day, you didn't see James Brown
shooting The Temptations.
And why's it that all the good ones like Tupac and Rock always get it?
How come nobody ever shot Nipsey Russell?
No, these wars don't bother me.
There's nothing you can do about it if a bullet has your name on it.
As my dad always said, "Do unto others
and run like a mother!"
Earlier in this program, we erroneously reported
That Nipsey Russell was missing and presumed dead.
In fact, he is neither missing nor dead.
We regret any inconvenience this has caused Mr. Russell or his family.
Meanwhile, in the wake of the Rock shooting,
Other members of the comedy fraternity have been quick to call for an end
To the East Coast, West Coast comedy war.
You think I've got a big family now,
You should've seen us before the war.
There was like 20 of us.
Somebody's gotta come out and say something
Before this thing gets way out of hand, all right?
And that somebody has to be-- somebody else.
You think I give a rat's cock about these fuckin' wars, huh?
I don't care how many fuckin' comics off each other.
You know what that means?
More pussy for me, if you know what I mean.
We take you now to Washington, D.C.,
Where the Rev. Barnett Reed is addressing the press.
We must put aside East and West
and come together as "Weast."
We interrupt the Rev. Reed to bring you this late-breaking news.
We have a report that Los Angeles police have detained
West Coast comedy kingpin Carrot Top,
And are questioning him in connection with the Chris Rock shooting.
In a recent interview, Mr. Top denied
there was any animosity between him
and his West Coast posse of comedians and Chris Rock's East Coast crew.
I got nothing against Rock or his boys,
but he's gonna start some shit, I got to answer hard.
How am I supposed to look my children in the eyes?
I don't wanna "dish" the man,
But I got to take care of my own. Dig?
I've just been handed this.
The man who was shot tonight is, in fact, not Chris Rock
but another guy.
We regret any inconvenience this has caused Chris Rock or his family.
We return now to our regularly scheduled program.
( theme music playing )
Announcer: From New York City,
it's "The Chris Rock Show."
Tonight's guest, Arsenio Hall.
With musical guests Puff Daddy and Mase.
Plus musical director Grandmaster Flash.
Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Rock!
This ain't "Vibe."
This is another show, baby. What's goin' on?
So, what's the big news?
The big news is Princess Di.
And everybody's talking about the war, the paparazzi.
Everybody's mad at the paparazzi for taking pictures.
George Clooney's complaining,
Rosie O'Donnell's complaining,
Sylvester Stallone is complaining,
And on the other hand, Vanilla lce is like, "Hey!
Why don't you take my picture?!"
Well another big thing now, Al Sharpton--
Al Sharpton and Ruth Messinger
Will face each other in a run-off for the Democratic thing.
The whole-- the whole-- the mayortorial--
to be the mayor, okay? I'm fuckin' up!
To be the mayor. Al Sharpton, man.
Now Messinger got 60% of the white vote
And Al Sharpton got 98% of the perm vote!
And Al's gonna get the perm vote!
Nick Ashford woke up real early to vote for Al.
Now, a lot of people are saying that Sharpton's candidacy
Will bring out the black vote.
And it will! That's the good news.
The bad news is that it will also bring out
The l-Don't-Want- That-Conkhead- Coon-Running-My-Town vote.
( audience applauds )
Nick Ashford didn't think about that.
Now, those police charged with beating, um, my man?
Yeah, Lemoo-- what's his name?
- Audience: Louima! - Yeah, with the plunger.
They have an unusual defense, you know.
They thought it was a party at Rick James' house.
That's what they said! That's what they said!
Now, you know what the worst thing about the whole plunger case--
the whole plunger guy is? When women get raped,
They don't show their pictures in the paper.
You don't know their name. You don't know nothin' about 'em.
They're just-- you know, you don't know nothin' about 'em.
Meanwhile, I see the plunger man on the front page
of the paper every day!
I don't care how much money he's getting, it ain't worth it!
It ain't worth it! I don't care.
It's not worth it.
You know, 'cause like 20 years from now,
He'll be walking down the street, it's like, "Hey, Plungie!"
This just came out today in "USA Today."
- Montclair, New Jersey-- - ( clapping )
hey, you're from Montclair?
Montclair, New Jersey, has been named the best place
In the whole United States for interracial couples.
The best city in the whole United States.
Now you know what the worst city was?
Every other city in America!
( audience applauds )
Anybody see the Forbes list this week?
The Forbes list, the richest entertainers?
They had-- The Beatles finished number five!
The Beatles finished number five,
And they haven't worked together in 30 years!
Meanwhile, Hammer put out an album last year,
and the brother called me collect.
( audience applauds )
Yes, he did!
1-800-COLLECT!
Now, we got a great show tonight.
We got a killer-- we got a dope show. It's the first show.
We got Arsenio Hall in the house.
( audience woofing )
We got the man!
We got P. Diddy, Puff Daddy.
And don't-- and don't--
you cannot front on Mase.
You gotta give it up for Mase too. That's right.
And I want you right now to give it up for Grandmaster Flash!
( turntable scratching )
Now, as a tribute to Princess Di,
Elton John sang a remake of his song, "Candle in the Wind."
We here at "The Chris Rock Show"
Would like to remember another
world leader who passed away this week.
The exiled dictator of Zaire, Mobutu.
( organ music playing )
Mobutu!
Mobutu. All right!
Our first guest tonight
revolutionized late night television talk shows.
It's always a pleasure to introduce this man because,
you know, I was on his show,
so it feels good to have him on my show.
I want you to give it up for Arsenio Hall!
- ( audience cheering ) - ( hip-hop music playing )
Yeah!
All right!
Hey, New York! What's up?
I don't get to the East Coast enough.
You're West Side. You're a West Side comedian.
- The West Side of the US. - Doesn't that bug you?
People still "woof-woof" everywhere you go?
Yeah, sometimes you wish that shit would stop, yes.
'Cause you'd be with your mom in the mall--
You ever been with a girl havin' sex and hear her go "woof"?
Oh shit. I guess the dick ain't that good.
Now that I think about it,
Somebody should've done that at some time in my life.
You figured it would've happened at least once.
I gotta start fucking-- that's what I'm going for from now on.
From now on, I want you to bark, motherfucker!
- You know, somebody. - Somebody!
I wanna-- yes! Yes, thank you.
- All right. - I'll have a goal to fuck for now.
Good for you. Good for you!
Now, I gotta ask you this question because this--
you're the man to ask this question.
What show are you watching, "Vibe" or "Keenan"?
Come on. That's the big question everywhere.
( audience shouting )
The people.
You know, it seems like people, for the most part,
are responding to "Keenan" more than "Vibe."
You know, what's interesting is
Quincy can get great guests for "Vibe" because everybody loves Quincy,
and Keenan'll have like a cow lick somebody's face
and beat him in the numbers, you know.
And it's like, and Keenan's doing different stuff.
He's throwing a lot of stuff against the wall-- variety, talk;
he has talent shows,
they play games and shit. And "Vibe" is pretty much
just doing the shit I did five years ago.
- ( audience cheering ) - I'm just kidding.
I'm just kidding. It's real new-looking.
( laughing )
I mean, why don't they just introduce the motherfucker as Arsenio?
I mean, I'll be damned.
Yeah! That's being big-- you're being big to say that.
'cause Keenan used to do that crazy impression of you
With the big-- the ass,
- this big. - Motherfucker'd be like this.
Yeah, yeah.
If you like "The Keenan Show,"
that shit must be real good.
- But you like it. - I'm just trying to be honest about it.
'Cause yeah, and Keenan is cool, now.
You are friends, right?
Yeah, way back. We was all tight, and brothers fall out.
And Keenan's one of those motherfuckers that if he fall out with you,
he may shoot a relative, or--
Keenan be looking for your momma.
That motherfucker get dirty when he get mad.
But it's cool. We cool now.
We used to all be boys. We used to do pranks on each other.
One time, as a matter of fact, when we were here,
- all in New York, right? - You all hang out at the same--
I'm like a little bit younger than you.
But like you, Keenan, Robert, you're all--
We would hang out but we wouldn't let Robert come.
No. No, we--
Why?
No, yeah, we would all hang out.
No, and do pranks on each other.
One time, Keenan sat all night ordering shit off TV,
Iike bamboo steamer and, you know,
motherfucker that play the pan flute.
He ordered all that shit, sent it to my house C.O.D.
That's a true story.
You know, it was the good old days. When we was in New York,
When Eddie was doing his "Raw" tour,
- he gave out my home phone number. - That's a long time ago.
- Wow! - Yeah, what year was that?
That was leather suit year.
( clapping )
Purple and black, hmm.
When you was cool wearing a leather suit.
- That's a long time ago. - Back then.
But he gave out-- he gave out my home number from the stage,
Told them to take out pencils and lipstick,
whatever you need. Write this number down.
Motherfuckers called me for three days, man.
And I didn't know what was going on.
The machine be full all the time, people be ringing.
You thought they loved you.
I was like, "I'm really popular somewhere."
Finally, a lady explained it to me.
"Eddie Murphy gave your number out on stage."
- I had to change my shit. - Aw, man, awwww.
- I'll get him. - Now that they got all these shows...
You know, what? I like both shows.
I hope they last because there's a lot of black talent
That needs a spot and everybody's-- you know what I'm saying?
And everybody's--
It's like Oprah has to get big numbers,
so she can't talk to Dru Hill, you know?
And Leno can't put some people on 'cause he need big numbers,
but, you know, we got all these shows.
I hope they both survive, to be honest with you there.
And, you know, brothers want to see Jada more often,
- Right. - you know?
You don't want to have to wait till Will brings her on Oprah.
You want to see her as often as possible.
- We got a lot of talent. - I was going to ask the audience,
are you likin' this interview right now?
Audience: Yes!
I just got, somebody back there just told me, right now,
you're getting ready to see the Puff Daddy remix of the interview!
Can we see that right now?
- ( hip-hop music playing ) - Arsenio,
how did you get into comedy?
I started doing stand-up-- actually I'm from Cleveland
but I went to Chicago and started in 1979,
and then I moved on to L.A.
And, yeah, I started, like most comics, on a dare.
This is a Bad Boy remix interview, nigga.
Arsenio, you've had a big impact on TV.
What shows do you watch?
"Moesha" in the house,
"X-Files," in the house, in the house, in the house.
Turn it out, without a doubt.
( clapping )
Can I say one thing? Can I just say
It's also a pleasure to be here 'cause Puffy is on?
Music is honest now, and I app--
Puffy, R. Kelly, Big,
I'm fucking you tonight.
Remember when Lionel Richie pretended he didn't want the pussy,
He was writing poetry, "Once, twice, three times,"
You know, "On the Wings of Love"?
Now, music-- "I'm fucking you tonight!"
( audience laughs )
Yeah, "I'm fucking you." Music has changed.
Johnny Mathis never said, "I'm fucking you tonight."
Not to a woman!
( audience laughing )
All right.
Thank you!
It has been 30 years since the Civil Rights struggle
in this country, and some people think
That blacks no longer have the right to complain.
But there are still others who believe
we have a long way to go.
One of those people is my next guest,
Professor Thad Taylor.
( clapping )
Now, welcome, Professor.
Thank you, Chris, and I can tell you right now, people,
It is a good feeling to be in a place where a black man is welcome.
- Yes. - Great.
Now, Professor, I got to ask you this:
do you think things are really that bad
for the black man in America today?
Chris, I have found that it's worse than it is 30 years ago.
Worse than 30 years ago?
I mean, you don't have to get to the back of the bus.
There's no white-only lunch counters, water fountains.
I mean, it's a little better, right?
Now, Chris, to tell you the truth,
there are still several places right here in New York City
Where a black man cannot get served
simply because he's black.
Now, I've done a lot of research in this area,
and I've even documented some of this footage on hidden camera.
I brought some to show you what I'm talking about.
Okay, sure, let's take a look.
Now, this first piece of footage
is me trying to enter a regular restaurant
right here in midtown Manhattan,
and I want you to pay close attention to how quickly
they let me know that they don't serve my kind.
Professor: Here I am, walking to the restaurant.
Now watch this, Chris!
There I am, being escorted out by the establishment!
Thrown! I didn't eat nothing.
I didn't even order no food. They took me out.
See, Chris, I didn't last one minute in that restaurant.
Professor!
I got more footage. Watch this, one more.
All right, here we go.
Here I am hailing a cab. See, trying to get a cab.
As you see, none of the cabs are stopping for me.
Because I'm a black man, see?
He's starting to stop. He wanted to hit me!
Rock: Well, I can see you're a black man.
Shit, you're black all over.
Look, one guy stops, I get in.
I say I'd like to go uptown, watch what happens.
Typical, Chris. Typical.
He threw me out of the cab.
This is wrong, Chris. This is wrong.
So now you see, this is a white man's world.
That's clear, right there.
No, Professor, this is a sane man's world.
I don't think people were treating you bad because you're black.
They're treating you bad because you're buck-ass naked!
Chris, Chris, please. That is not true.
Look at these guys over here. Look at those guys!
Nobody's bothering them!
Well, uh, thank you, Professor.
Thank you very much.
( cheering )
Here to perform "Been Around the World,"
Please welcome Mase
And the CEO of Bad Boy Entertainment, Puff Daddy!
( hip-hop music playing )
Bad Boy, Harlem World, street team.
Yo, thank you!
Good night! Give it up--
Arsenio, Puff Daddy, Mase!
Now Flash, take us out!
( record scratches )
( theme music playing )