Chris Rock's monologue for the Oscars is being rewritten in light of the diversity controversy that broke out after only white actors earned the top nominations.
But, despite calls to bow out of the hosting gig, Rock will not only stay on, he’ll also address the race issue in his monologue.
"Chris is hard at work," Academy Awards producer
Reginald Hudlin told “Entertainment Tonight” Saturday during an interview at the NAACP Image Awards Nominee Luncheon. "He and his writing staff locked themselves in a room. As things got a little provocative and exciting, he said, 'I'm throwing out the show I wrote and writing a new show.'”
"Chris is that thorough. He's that brilliant, and I have 1,000 percent confidence that he will deliver something that people will be talking about for weeks," Hudlin continued.
Rock has faced pressure to drop out of the Oscars and join the boycott that has been spearheaded by Jada Pinkett Smith, her husband Will Smith, and filmmaker Spike Lee. Tyrese Gibson, of the "Fast & Furious" movie fame, urged the
comedian to step down in an interview with People magazine last week.
"There is no joke that he can crack. There is no way for him to seize the moment and come into this thing and say, 'I'm going to say this and say that I'm going to address the issue but then I'm still going to keep my gig as the host,'" Gibson said. "The statement that you make is that you step down."
Rock already brought up the controversy in a Twitter post earlier this month.
The Academy Awards controversy erupted after nominations were announced earlier this month, revealing that not a single person of color was nominated for a major acting award, reviving the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite on social media.
Some, like African-American actress and Fox News contributor Stacey Dash, pushed back on the controversy last week,
calling the boycott "ludicrous.”
"We have to make up our minds. Either we want to have segregation or integration," Dash said on "Fox & Friends" last week. "If we don't want segregation, then we need to get rid of channels like BET and the BET Awards and the (NAACP) Image Awards, where you're only awarded it you're black."
The awards show is scheduled for Feb. 28 and will be aired on ABC.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.