Chris Rock Questions Meghan Markle's 'Racism Claims' Against Royals in Netflix Special
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Chris Rock earned some laughs at the expense of Meghan Markle and the royals over the weekend.
During his new Netflix special, Chris Rock: Selective Outrage, the comedian, 58, unloaded a few jokes about Meghan, 41, and her in-laws, at one point claiming that "some of that s--- she went through was not racism," but rather what he called "in-law s---."
He later called the royal family the "OGs of racism" and "Sugarhill Gang of racism" during the Saturday night special — claiming that they "invested in slavery like it was Shark Tank."
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
"Sometimes it's just some in-law s---," Rock said on the special of Meghan. "Because she's complaining, I'm like, 'What the f--- is she talking about? 'They're so racist, they wanted to know how brown the baby was going to be...' I'm like, 'That's not racist,' cause' even Black people want to know how brown the baby gon' be. S---. We check behind them ears."
The segment about Meghan and the royals began when Rock claimed that "everyone is trying to be the victim, including people who know g--damn well they're not victims." After mentioning Meghan specifically, he said that she "seems like a nice lady, just complaining."
"Like, didn't she hit the light-skinned lottery," Rock asked. "And she's still going off complaining?"
Rock continued, saying he understood Meghan's "dilemma."
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty for NYFW: The Shows; Samir Hussein/WireImage Chris Rock (left) mentioned Meghan Markle (right) during his Netflix special
"Black girl trying to be accepted by her white in-laws," Rock said. "Oh, it's hard. It's so hard, it's very hard — but it ain't as hard as a white girl trying to be accepted by her Black in-laws. Now, that s--- is really hard."
"If you Black, and you wanna be accepted by your white in-laws, then you need to marry a Kardashian," he later continued. "Because they accept everybody. Kris Jenner is like the Statue of Liberty."
A representative for the couple did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.
Rock's special comes two years after Meghan's interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021 when she claimed that there were "concerns and conversations about how dark" her son Archie's skin would be "when he's born." In January, while promoting his book Spare in an interview with ITV's Tom Bradby, Prince Harry was asked if the incident was "essentially racist," and he replied that he wouldn't describe the incident as such, "not having lived within that family."
"The difference between racism and unconscious bias... the two things are different," Harry, 38, continued. "Once it's been acknowledged or pointed out to you as an individual, otherwise an institution, that you have unconscious bias, you, therefore, have an opportunity to learn and grow from that... otherwise, unconscious bias then moves into the category of racism."
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Karwai Tang/WireImage Announcement Of Prince Harry's Engagement To Meghan Markle
Still, Rock wasn't afraid to label the family racist himself in his new special, when he argued that Meghan was "acting all dumb like she didn't know nothing. Going on Oprah, 'I didn't know, I had no idea how racist they were.' It's the royal family! You didn't Google those motherf-----s? What the f--- is she talking about, she didn't know?"
"The f---? It's the royal family, they're the original racists," he continued. "They invented colonialism. They're the OGs of racism. They're the Sugarhill Gang of racism. Like, 'a hip, hop, the hippie, the hippie to the hip hip hop-a don't stop — the racism.'"
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The U.K. generated immense wealth from the slave trade before it was outlawed by the British Parliament in 1807. Slavery itself was later made illegal in the U.K. in 1833 through the Slavery Abolition Act. In recent years, the royal family has acknowledged Britain's historic role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, like when Prince William expressed "profound sorrow" in 2022, before stopping short of an apology. His father, King Charles (then Prince Charles), denounced the "appalling atrocity of slavery, which forever stains our history," in a 2021 speech he made in Barbados when the island nation removed Queen Elizabeth as head of state and swore in its first president.
Elsewhere during Rock's stand-up special, the comedian joked about that controversial Will Smith Oscars slap nearly one year later. Near the end of the show, Rock addressed the Oscars more in-depth, saying he's "not a victim, baby; you'll never see me on Oprah or Gayle, crying. You will never see it. Never gonna happen." He joked that he got "smacked by Suge Smith."
"I got smacked at the f---ing Oscars by this m----f---er. And people are like, 'Did it hurt?' It still hurts!" said Rock. He also pointed out Smith's size difference compared to himself, before poking fun at the actor over the headline-making "entanglement" drama he had with wife Jada, and the Red Table Talk episode they did together.
