Chris Rock took the stage in Brooklyn to introduce The Strokes and used his brief time on the microphone to call out NBA star Kyrie Irving and others who choose not to get vaccinated. In a video uploaded to social media, the actor jokingly questioned how shows existed during the height of the coronavirus pandemic and expressed concern for the immunization status of audience members.
“I haven’t seen any shows since COVID,” he expressed. “Has anybody been like, ‘Throw your mask in the air, and wave it like you just don’t care?’ Where’s my anti-vaxxers at? Where you at? You fu**ing dumb Kyrie motherfu**ers.”
In September, the 56-year-old shared a positive COVID-19 diagnosis and urged others to get one of the available vaccines created for the virus.
“Hey guys I just found out I have COVID, trust me you don’t want this. Get vaccinated,” he tweeted.
Rock shared his vaccination status publicly in May revealing to Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show he received the Johnson & Johnson jab. He joked about skipping the line due to his celebrity status and getting the “food stamps of vaccines.”
“I didn’t care. I used my celebrity, Jimmy,” he continued. “I was like, ‘Step aside, Betty White, I did Pootie Tang. Step aside, old people.’”
According to a New York Times report published on October 28th, fully vaccinated people overall had a much lower chance of testing positive for the virus or dying, however among those vaccinated, Johnson & Johnson recipients had slightly higher rates of breakthrough cases overall. Those who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine had higher rates of breakthrough cases than those inoculated with the Moderna shot.
Hey guys I just found out I have COVID, trust me you don’t want this. Get vaccinated.
— Chris Rock (@chrisrock) September 19, 2021
Irving has been vocal about his stance against a coronavirus vaccine mandate and disclosed he did not receive any shot despite the decision keeping him off the court. He has drawn support from anti-vaccine crowds who attempted to forcefully enter the Barclays Center during the Brooklyn Nets home opener in October. The protestors rallied with signs reading “we will not comply,” and “stand with Kyrie.”
NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Charles Barkley, and Magic Johnson have all vocalized opinions against Irving’s decision to not get vaccinated.
“First of all, you don’t get the vaccine for yourself,” explained Barkley. “You get it for other people.”
“You have said to your teammates, ‘I’m gonna be there for you,’” said Johnson. “Well, you can’t be there if you don’t get vaccinated. You letting them down. And then that hurts our chances of winning a championship. I would never do that to my teammates. Never.”
General Manager Sean Marks issued a statement regarding Irving’s status with the team:
“Given the evolving nature of the situation and after thorough deliberation, we have decided Kyrie Irving will not play or practice with the team until he is eligible to be a full participant. Kyrie has made a personal choice, and we respect his individual right to choose. Currently, the choice restricts his ability to be a full-time member of the team, and we will not permit any member of our team to participate with part-time availability. It is imperative that we continue to build chemistry as a team and remain true to our long-established values of togetherness and sacrifice”
Check out the video of Chris Rock poking fun at Irving and his supporters below:
Chris Rock was at Brooklyn Steel last night to introduce The Strokes…but first he roasted anti-vaxxers and gave everyone a new name for them ?pic.twitter.com/Aa6dhg4arg
— Wu-Tang Is For The Children (@WUTangKids) November 4, 2021