Chris Rock lived up to expectations when he took on racism in Hollywood during his opening monologue at the 88th Oscars ceremony on Sunday.
Rock started off strong by referring to the annual awards show as “the White People’s Choice Awards,” before launching into a blistering monologue that skewered racism in Hollywood.
“You’re damn right Hollywood’s racist,” he said. “Hollywood is sorority racist: ‘We like you Rhonda, but you’re not a Kappa.’”
Rock didn’t stop there, saying that Jamie Foxx was so good in the movie “Ray” that they allowed the real Ray Charles to die because “we don’t need two of them.”
Here are five of the best jokes from Rock’s opening monologue:
- “I thought about quitting. But then I thought, ‘They’re not going to cancel the Oscars cuz I quit. And the last thing I need is to lose another job to Kevin Hart.”
- On why black people didn’t protest the Oscars in the 1960s: “Because we had real things to protest at the time. We were too busy being lynched to care about Best Cinematography.”
- On Jada Pinkett Smith boycotting the Oscars: “Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna‘s panties. I wasn’t invited.”
- “This year, in the ‘In Memoriam’ segment, it’s just going to be black people who were shot by the cops.”
- “Welcome to the Academy Awards, also known as the White People’s Choice Awards.”
Honorable mention:
- “Jamie Foxx was so good in ‘Ray’ that they went to the hospital to unplug the real Ray Charles.”