What Chris Rock has said about Cancel culture

Rock says he returned the advance for a book on interracial relationships because he did not trust his publisher in an era of taking things out of context.

“And I was like, I don't trust these people I'm working with. So I gave the money back”

The Daily: Chris Rock Has Been Thinking About Forgiveness (Oct 3, 2026) · Listen from 27:42

Rock argues that people who take offense are not oversensitive but mean.

“People are like, oh, people are so sensitive. I'm like, no, they're not sensitive. They're mean”

The Daily: Chris Rock Has Been Thinking About Forgiveness (Oct 3, 2026) · Listen from 29:25

Rock defends staying friends with a canceled friend, arguing that friendship that lasts only through good times is not friendship.

“And I was like, well, if you're only friends with your friends when they're good, they're not your friends, you know?”

The Daily: Chris Rock Has Been Thinking About Forgiveness (Oct 3, 2026) · Listen from 52:55

Rock argues that wokeness, while valuable for giving marginalized people a voice, resembles the Old Testament in lacking forgiveness.

“But the problem with wokeness is we're in the Old Testament right now, okay? And the Old Testament has no forgiveness”

The Daily: Chris Rock Has Been Thinking About Forgiveness (Oct 3, 2026) · Listen from 54:05

Using the Salem witch trials as an analogy, Rock argues that problems arise when such movements are institutionalized.

“But then you open up a witch office and now you got to start lying”

The Daily: Chris Rock Has Been Thinking About Forgiveness (Oct 3, 2026) · Listen from 57:04