Chris Rock has never steered clear of the controversial and that was never more clear than during his opening monologue on “Saturday Night Live.”
Rock, who was a cast member on the show from 1990-93, kicked off his first hosting appearance on the show since 1996 with jokes about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings and the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
Some of the jokes drew nervous giggles, but most of them fell flat.
“Tomorrow’s the New York City marathon,” Rock said. “What could go wrong there, right?”
He then promised that New York would be fine, “just like Boston’s fine after the marathon.”
“That was probably the most frightening, sadistic terrorist attack ever. Their knees are hurting, their feet are killing them. … You’ve been training for a year, you finally get to the finish line, and somebody screams: ‘Run!'” he said.
“But hey, the good people of Boston bounced back.”
The Boston Marathon bombing at the finish line killed three people and injured at least 260 others.
Rock also tried to joke about 9/11, but claimed his jokes weren’t about the terrorist attack but about America’s commercialization of the date.
“They should change the name from the Freedom Tower to the ‘Never Going in There’ Tower. Because I’m never going in there. There is no circumstance that will ever get me in that building. Are you kidding me? What are they thinking?” Rock asked. “Who’s the corporate sponsor, Target?”
“I am never going in the Freedom Tower,” he continued. “I don’t care if Scarlett Johansson is butt naked on the 89th floor in a plate of ribs.”
He predicted that the Sept. 11 date would soon lose its sacredness in the future.
“You gotta realize, we are in America, and in America there are no sacred days because we commercialize everything,” he said. “We’re only five years away from 9/11 sales. That’s right, you’re gonna hear it on the radio: ‘Come on down to Red Lobster, these shrimp are 9 dollars and 11 cents!'”
Watch the full monologue below:
