Tanya Brown, sister of the late Nicole Brown Simpson, apparently had a rather rude awakening on Wednesday—TMZ calling her for a comment regarding a joke comedian Chris Rock made involving her deceased sister.
During a show at the Arizona Financial Theatre in Phoenix, Rock explained he was asked to host the next Academy Awards ceremony, but refused. He said he also refused an offer to do a Super Bowl commercial.
Rock was famously slapped by Will Smith at this year's Oscars after making a joke about his wife—Jada Pinkett Smith—and her lack of hair due to a medical condition called alopecia areata.
Rock then reportedly compared returning to the Oscars to returning to the scene of a crime—like asking murder victim Nicole Brown Simpson "to go back to the restaurant" where she left her eyeglasses shortly before she was killed.
Brown took to Instagram to voice her disdain for Rock's comment:
"Nothing Is more lovely than to wake up on a Tuesday morning (Not) with TMZ calling you saying Chris Rock made a horrible 'joke' about Nicole. BEYOND distasteful!"
She also criticized his joke about Jada Pinkett Smith earlier this year:
"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."
"I always thought he was funny, but he crossed the line with this one."
"In other words, Y’all!!!! Stop using my sister, OJ and Ron part of your cricking comedy act."
"There are families behind this tragedy!"
Reactions on Instagram were largely supportive.
@timewithtanyabrown/Instagram
@timewithtanyabrown/Instagram
@timewithtanyabrown/Instagram
@timewithtanyabrown/Instagram
@timewithtanyabrown/Instagram
@timewithtanyabrown/Instagram
Twitter seemed to be largely on Brown's side as well.
Christopher Darden, the prosecutor in OJ's trial, reportedly also shared his contempt for Rock's joke on his private Instagram.
According to ET Canada, Darden said:
"I don’t advocate violence but I guess this guy hasn’t learned his lesson. I guess Will failed to slap any sense into him."
"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."
"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? Ain’t you learned nothing from the slap that was heard around the world?"
