Chris Rock Had A Post-Divorce Revelation Thanks To Dave Chappelle

Image by Sophia Germer / The Advocate

Chris Rock has been busy on the road for his "Blackout Tour" but that has not stopped him from serving as the cover star for the latest issue of Rolling Stone.

In the cover story, the comedian discusses his career, as well as his divorce from Malaak Compton-Rock. The interview features a number of notable exchanges between Rock and writer Stephen Rodrick, but this one where Rock recounts Dave Chappelle asking him if he had cried during the divorce process when the two comedians took over New Orleans, is surely worth mentioning.

"Chappelle turned shrink and asked Rock if he cried during the divorce process. Rock said he cried once: 'During the custody battle.'

Afterward, Rock says it was a revelatory moment. 'No one's ever asked me that,' he says. 'I don't even know if a shrink has asked me that. We live in a world where men are assumed to not have feelings.' He gives an example. 'All my friends assume I moved into the city after my divorce, away from my girls. When I say I bought a house around the corner, it blows their minds.'"

In the interview Rock also reveals that he plans on filming his Netflix specials in front of predominantly black audiences, a move that was indirectly inspired from watching Michael Che's Netflix special Michael Che Matters.

"I liked it but it's too many white people in the audience," Rock said about Che's special. "You do cutting-edge humor about race and you cut to white people – it does not have the same effect...When black people laugh, there's a rumble."

The cover story also reveals that there is one particular person that is always by Rock's side during his current tour — Prince.

"In his dressing room, a few candles burn next to a framed portrait of Prince. Rock's crew is responsible at each stop for putting a new photo of the legend in a place of honor," the story details. The piece also mentions our very own Questlove meeting up with Rock during the latter's tour and showing him some unreleased Prince material.

Read the interview in its entirety here.