Pisutsiri Chansodam, center, being escorted by police to Bang Pu Police Station in Samut Prakan province on Mar. 7, 2023.
SAMUT PRAKAN — A man accused of setting fire and stabbing his girlfriend to death was charged with homicide, police said Tuesday.
In the country’s latest violence against women, Pisutsiri Chansoda, 42, was apprehended Tuesday morning for killing his girlfriend, Nathanan Joomfong, 45, near a bridge over Bang Pakong River in Chachoengsao province. He allegedly told police he was preparing to drown himself to avoid being arrested.
Nathanan stabbed the victim multiple times in a ditch inside Bangpu Industrial Estate in Samut Prakan province south of Bangkok on Monday afternoon. Deputy provincial police commander Chotiwat Leungwilai said the suspect confessed to the murder in a jealous rage after seeing the victim’s chat with another man.
Witnesses said they saw the victim, wearing only a towel, getting out of a white pickup truck and running towards them for help. The suspect followed the victim with a fuel container and told the group to stay away. He then threw the contents onto the group and ignited a fire, resulting in the victim and one of the good samaritans getting burned by the flames.
The victim then jumped into a nearby ditch to put out the fire, but the suspect went back to his vehicle and returned with a knife. He stabbed the victim to death and left the scene.
A search of his vehicle found the knife believed to be used in the murder. Police believed the murder was premeditated, while the suspect told investigators the fuel container was meant to fill up his motorcycle and the knife was routinely carried in the car for self-defense. Nathanan was also charged with carrying a knife in public.
Thailand ranked among the world’s worst in violence against women, according to the Social Equality Promotion Foundation. A 2021 study found more than seven women a day are abused physically or mentally, while the Department of Disease Control recorded more than 8,500 cases of violence against women each year.
The department said most women were found to have been attacked at home by male relatives, who were often intoxicated. Women aged 20-24 are the most vulnerable, accounting for 15 percent of the reported cases.
Turtle Beach Launches New Stealth 600 Gen 2 MAX Teal & Pink Colorways as the Leading Gaming Accessory Maker’s First Carbon Neutral Products. (Photo: Business Wire)
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.–(BUSINESS WIRE) – Leading gaming accessories maker Turtle Beach Corporation (NASDAQ: HEAR) today announced two new colorways, Teal and Pink, are now available for its Designed for Xbox Stealth 600 Gen 2 MAX wireless gaming headset. The new Stealth 600 Gen 2 MAX Teal and Pink colorways are also Turtle Beach’s first certified CarbonNeutral® products, with emissions reduced and offset in line with The CarbonNeutral Protocol, marking an important milestone in the Company’s ongoing sustainability efforts.
The Stealth 600 Gen 2 MAX upped the series’ already impressive offering with a massive 48+ hour battery life and multiplatform connectivity with more gaming systems, in addition to the powerful 3D spatial surround sound*, crystal-clear mic performance, and unmatched comfort that’s made the Stealth 600 series headsets top-selling products since their debut. The Stealth 600 Gen 2 MAX Teal and Pink join the Black, Midnight Red, and Arctic Camo colorways for the same $129.99 MSRP, and all options are available now at www.turtlebeach.com and participating retailers worldwide.
Since their August 2020 debut, Turtle Beach’sStealth 600 Gen 2 has been the #1 best-selling headset series.Additionally, popular gaming publication MP1st reviewed theDesigned for Xbox Stealth 600 Gen 2 MAX and awarded it their Editor’s Choice designation, saying, “They’re excellent, and maybe in fact amongst the best headsets I have ever used on consoles.”
“Stealth 600 Gen 2 MAX Teal and Pink not only give gamers more color options – which we know they love, but also the peace of mind knowing one of their most used gaming accessories is carbon neutral,” said Juergen Stark, Chairman and CEO, Turtle Beach Corporation. “Stealth 600 Gen 2 MAX Teal and Pink are Turtle Beach’s first CarbonNeutral® products, and their launch is another important and significant step forward in our sustainability efforts.”
Turtle Beach Launches New Stealth 600 Gen 2 MAX Teal & Pink Colorways For Its #1 Best-Selling Headset Series (Photo: Business Wire)
Stark continued, “Last year we transitioned most of our gaming headsets to use sustainably sourced paper trays and packaging materials, and eliminated most plastics from the packaging, including up to 90% reduction in plastic in the packaging for some models. We also reduced overall packaging size on key models, which further reduces paper use and lowers carbon output during transportation. In addition to incorporating sustainability into new and future products, Turtle Beach is also proud to be part of Climate Impact Partners’ Million Mangroves program, where we contribute to helping develop new mangrove forests which help combat carbon.”
Turtle Beach Launches New Stealth 600 Gen 2 MAX Teal & Pink Colorways as the Leading Gaming Accessory Maker’s First Carbon Neutral Products. (Photo: Business Wire)
Mangroves are a high-impact, carbon-dense, natural climate solution that also provide important protection in coastal areas, enable fish and water species to thrive, and create valuable timber products which are resistant to rot and insects. Over 35% of Mangroves, named the “wonder tree” due to their ability to store four times more carbon than a rainforest, have already been deforested.
Climate Impact Partners, specialist in carbon market solutions for climate action, created the Million Mangroves program to showcase companies’ commitment to climate action today and deliver immediate results by financing one of the highest impact climate and blue carbon solutions available.
An American language teacher, 45, was charged with negligent homicide on Tuesday after an eight-year-old boy was drowned in the sea of Chumphon province, despite the boy’s parents not wanting to see him charged.
The American teacher was an employee of a local church inPathio District, Chumphon province. His family, consisting of his wife, son and four children friends of his son, were on a holiday in Thung Zang Bay.
While everyone was relaxing on the beach, his son and Wiwat, 8, were playing in the water. The two boys were holding onto a fish-shaped rubber bouy, metres from the shore when they lost control. The teacher’s son was rescued by a Myanmar worker in time while Wiwat drown.
More than 100 local officers and rescue workers searched for the boy after receiving the report on Sunday.
Wiwat’s body was found on Monday after his body was washed ashore, one kilometer north of the spot he drown.
Police questioned the American teacher who cried upon learning the news and charged with involuntary manslaughter.
An H3 rocket lifts off from Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima, southern Japan Tuesday, March 7, 2023. (Kyodo News via AP)
MINAMITANE, Japan (Kyodo) Japan’s new flagship H3 rocket lifted off Tuesday for the first time but was ordered to self-destruct minutes later after its second-stage engine failed to ignite, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said, with the failure marking another blow to the country’s aspirations in the space industry.
The failure followed a string of delays to the development of the successor to the reliable H2A rocket, including a previous launch attempt on Feb. 17 that was aborted moments before blastoff at the Tanegashima Space Center on Tanegashima Island in the southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima due to malfunctioning electrical equipment.
The second launch attempt was initiated at around 10:37 a.m. Tuesday as scheduled. However, JAXA sent a self-destruct command to the newly developed rocket around 15 minutes later after the launch vehicle was deemed unable to complete its intended mission.
According to the space agency, the remains of the rocket crashed into waters off the eastern coast of the Philippines. There have been no reports of damage or injury from falling debris, it said.
An H3 rocket is launched from Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima, southern Japan Tuesday, March 7, 2023.(Kyodo News via AP)
JAXA President Hiroshi Yamakawa apologized at a press conference for “failing to meet the public’s expectations,” and promised the agency would “devote itself to finding out the cause of the issue and restoring public trust.”
But JAXA project manager Masashi Okada said it was “unforeseeable” how much time would be needed to investigate and resolve the cause of the failure.
The result is the latest setback to JAXA, whose smaller Epsilon-6 rocket was ordered to self-destruct just minutes after liftoff in October last year after it deviated from its intended trajectory.
People watch as an H3 rocket is launched, at a field in Minamitane town in Kagoshima, southern Japan Tuesday, March 7, 2023. (Kyodo News via AP)
It may also lead to calls for an overhaul of Japan’s space strategy under which the H3, the first revamp of its main launch vehicle in around 20 years, was expected to give the country a foothold in the increasingly competitive satellite launching business.
Science minister Keiko Nagaoka said Tuesday’s outcome was “extremely regrettable,” and that a task force established at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology will work with JAXA to “promptly and thoroughly” determine what caused the failure.
Katsuhiko Hara, a senior science ministry official, admitted at the JAXA press conference that the failure would have “some impact” on the government’s space program.
Japan’s space agency intentionally destroyed the H3 rocket moments into its launch Tuesday after the ignition for the second stage of the country’s first new rocket series in more than two decades failed. (Kyodo News via AP)
The failed mission, dubbed Test Flight No. 1, was supposed to put into orbit the Advanced Land Observing Satellite-3, which was expected to become a key tool for the government when managing disasters.
The satellite also carried a sensor from the Defense Ministry’s acquisition agency capable of detecting two types of infrared rays that was to be tested to see if it could detect ballistic missile launches.
At a park around 6 kilometers from the launch site, approximately 1,000 people gathered to watch Tuesday’s launch. People cheered and clapped as the rocket lifted off into the sky, but exclaimed in disappointment once they were told it had failed.
“It cannot be,” one spectator said. “It’s a pity (that this happened) after the rocket finally lifted off.”
FILE - This photo provided by the North Korean government, Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, delivers a speech during a national meeting against the coronavirus, in Pyongyang, North Korea, Aug. 10, 2022. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The influential sister of North Korea’s leader warned Tuesday that her country is ready to take “quick, overwhelming action” against the United States and South Korea, a day after the U.S. flew a nuclear-capable B-52 bomber in a demonstration of strength against the North.
The U.S.-South Korean training on Monday involving the B-52 bomber over the Korean Peninsula was the latest in a series of drills between the allies in recent months. Their militaries are also preparing to revive their largest field exercises later this month.
Kim Yo Jong didn’t describe any planned actions in her statement, but North Korea has often test-launched missiles in response to U.S.-South Korean military drills because it views them as an invasion rehearsal.
A U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress aircraft, top, flies in formation with South Korea’s Air Force F-15K fighters over the western sea of Korean peninsula during a joint air drill in South Korea, Monday, March 6, 2023.(South Korea Defense Ministry via AP)
“We keep our eye on the restless military moves by the U.S. forces and the South Korean puppet military and are always on standby to take appropriate, quick and overwhelming action at any time according to our judgment,” Kim Yo Jong said in the statement carried by state media.
“The demonstrative military moves and all sorts of rhetoric by the U.S. and South Korea, which go so extremely frantic as not to be overlooked, undoubtedly provide (North Korea) with conditions for being forced to do something to cope with them,” she said.
Hours after Kim’s statement, the General Staff of North Korea’s Korean People’s Army said it put its front-line artillery units on alert and heightened surveillance activities after it detected a live-fire artillery drill by “the enemy” in the South Korean border town of Paju on Tuesday morning.
A U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress aircraft, center, flies in formation with South Korea’s Air Force KF-16 fighters and South Korea’s Air Force F-15K fighters over the western sea of Korean peninsula during a joint air drill in South Korea, Monday, March 6, 2023.(South Korea Defense Ministry via AP)
The General Staff said about 30 rounds were fired during the South Korean exercise, which it described as a “very grave military provocation” that aggravated tensions, and urged its rival to immediately stop such activities near the border.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff described the North Korean claim as absurd and denied that the South’s military had fired any artillery at the shooting range the North was referring to.
The South Korean Defense Ministry said after Monday’s training that the B-52’s deployment demonstrated the allies’ capability to deter North Korean aggression. The U.S. deployed B-1B bombers to the peninsula a few times earlier this year. Last month, the U.S. and South Korea also held a simulation in Washington aimed at sharpening their response to North Korean nuclear threats.
Last Friday, the South Korean and U.S. militaries announced they would conduct a computer-simulated command post training from March 13-23 and restore their largest springtime field exercises that were last held in 2018.
The allies had canceled or scaled back some of their regular drills since 2018 to support now-dormant diplomacy with North Korea and guard against the COVID-19 pandemic. But they have been restoring their exercises after North Korea last year conducted a record number of missile tests and openly threatened to use its nuclear weapons in potential conflicts with its rivals.
In a separate statement Tuesday, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry called the flyover of the U.S. B-52 bomber a reckless provocation that pushed the situation on the peninsula “deeper into the bottomless quagmire.” The statement said “there is no guarantee that there will be no violent physical conflict” if U.S.-South Korean military provocations continue.
North Korea often uses fiery rhetoric in times of heightened animosity with the United States and South Korea. Possible steps North Korea could take include a nuclear test or the launch of a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile capable of targeting the mainland U.S., observers say.
This photo provided by the North Korean government, shows what it says a test launch of a Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile at Pyongyang International Airport in Pyongyang, North Korea Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023.
Last month, Kim Yo Jong threatened to turn the Pacific into the North’s firing range. In her statement Tuesday, she said North Korea would consider a possible U.S. attempt to intercept a North Korean ICBM a declaration of war. She cited a South Korean media report saying the U.S. military plans to shoot down a North Korean ICBM if it is test-launched toward the Pacific.
All known North Korean ICBM tests have been made at steep angles to avoid neighboring countries, and the weapons landed in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
South Korea on Monday took a step meant to ease a thorny history dispute with Japan in what was seen as an effort to boost Seoul-Tokyo-Washington security cooperation. The step involves a plan to use local funds to compensate Koreans who performed forced labor during Tokyo’s colonial rule, but without requiring Japanese companies to contribute to the reparations.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel on Monday praised the leaders of South Korea and Japan, saying the two came to understand that the “potential of collaboration into the future is more important.”
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Associated Press writers Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
Social media praised a delivery driver named “Hero Rider,” who was filmed parking his motorcycle and rushing to the aid of a 4-year-old who suddenly crossed the road.
Police Chief Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas also praised Pirapong Chumpolwadee, 31, on Tuesday for abandoning his motorcycle and rush to save a toddler from being hit by a car in time. Pirapong was honoured under the programme “do good get awarded” insisted by the police force.
The incident occurred on Sawai Pracharat Rd. in Lam Luk Ka Klong 4 district, opposite Yamsaard School in Pathum Thani province, on March 6. The surveillance camera of a housing estate recorded the whole scene.
Local media reported that the person at the scene was Peerapong who was on a delivery job. He parked in front of a housing estate and then heard a security guard shout in fright that a child was crossing the road. He turned to see the child, abandoned the motorbike and ran to bring the child to the road island. Fortunately, the car stopped in time.
The child ran with joy to the guard who was across the street to buy something and was about to go back. The child and the watchman know each other because the child is the son of the lawnmower of the housing complex.
Peerapong said that his motorbike was fine, but the two cups of coffee he was supposed to deliver to the customer were damaged. When he explained the situation to the shopkeeper, he made up the two cups of coffee free of charge.
Peerapong Chumpolvadee, the Hero Rider and the boy’s aunt
“I am glad that the child is safe. I am proud and impressed that social media has praised me. I read every comment all night. Thank you so much. But when my girlfriend heard the story, she cried all night because she was afraid the car would not stop in time and run over me and the child,” Peerapong said.
Wandee, 41, a Cambodian worker who was the child’s aunt, said she was at work when she heard security shouting that her grandchild was running past her. She was so shocked that she rushed to the road and saw that the rider was already holding her grandchild. Everything happened so fast, she added, thanking the rider.
Two bars of the Toblerone Swiss chocolate are shown, at front is the new style 150 gram bar showing the reduction in triangular pieces, in the background is the older style 360 gram bar. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)
GENEVA (AP) — The makers of Toblerone are stripping images of Switzerland’s famed Matterhorn and the Swiss flag from the packaging of the milk-chocolate treat as they move some production to Slovakia.
Mondelez International of Deerfield, Illinois, which owns the Swiss-born brand, said Monday that it’s in the process of adapting the packaging of Toblerone products to conform with strict rules in Switzerland about how products qualify for the coveted “Swissness” moniker — perceived by some as a standard of quality.
“The redesign of the packaging introduces a modernized and streamlined mountain logo that is consistent with the geometric and triangular aesthetic,” Mondelez spokeswoman Livia Kolmitz said in an email.
In June, the company announced plans to outsource production of some Toblerone chocolates later this year to Bratislava, the Slovak capital — where wages and the cost of living are far lower than in wealthy, expensive Switzerland.
The packaging change affects 35- and 50-gram (1.2- to 1.8-ounce) bars that will be made in Slovakia: Larger, 100-gram “tablets” will still be produced in Bern, the Swiss capital, the company says.
A law on “Swissness” of products was adopted in 2017 and aims to protect the cachet of Swiss manufacturing. When it comes to foods, two criteria have to be met: At least four-fifths of the raw materials that go into the product have to come from Switzerland, and the processing that gives a product its “essential characteristics” must be carried out in Switzerland.
The chocolate bar, made of honey and almond nougat, is distinctive for its triangular “peak” shape that evokes a mountain range and matching triangular packaging — sold in scores of countries and duty-free shops around the globe.
Toblerone has already been produced in other countries — notably late into the last century. The treat was invented 115 years ago by Swiss confectioner Theodor Tobler, with the brand name a fusion of the family name and the Italian word “torrone” — nougat.
Mondelez has already run into blowback from its changes to Toblerone in the past: A move years ago to widen the gaps between the chocolate peaks — reducing the weight of the bars but keeping the price the same, known as “shrinkflation” — fanned outrage in Britain, where the change mostly took effect.
From left, Jonghyun Hwang (CEO, SPC Samlip), Heesoo Hur (Executive Vice President, SPC Group), Tanit Chearavanont (CEO – Makro Thailand), and Saowaluck Thithapant (Group CEO – Makro Business) take a commemorative photograph during ‘Siam Makro – SPC Partnership Meeting to Collaborate on Bakery Business in Thailand’ in COEX InterContinental Hotel, February 2023 (Photo=SPC Group)
Siam Makro announced on March 6 that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with SPC Samlip, a South Korean leading food company based in Seoul.
The companies plan to explore possibilities to establish joint venture to implement bakery production and distribution business in Thailand, and operate in-store bakery shops to produce and distribute packaged bakery products at retail and wholesale channels under Siam Makro in Thailand and Southeast Asia. The company also plans to provide a wide range of business expertise including product development, product management, and quality control.
The signing ceremony between Siam Makro and SPC Samlip held at Inter Continental Seoul COEX in February. The key members of each company’s management team, including Tanit Chearavanont (CEO – Makro Thailand), and Saowaluck Thithapant (Group CEO – Makro Business), Jonghyun Hwang (CEO of SPC Samlip), Heesoo Hur (Executive Vice President of SPC Group) were present at the ceremony.
SPC Samlip, a global comprehensive food company of Korea’s No.1 bakery conglomerate SPC Group, manufactures and distributes bakery, including a variety of packaged bakery and dessert products, and food products including processed meat, beverages, fresh food and HMR, for B2B and B2C customers. The company also operates other related businesses such as food distribution service, F&B storesoperation, and concession. SPC Samlip is the exclusive operator of Californian sandwich brand ‘Eggslut’ in Korea. Its annual sales in year 2022 was 2.5 billion USD
Family members, accompanied by monks and fellow mourners, release the ashes of Duangphet Phromthep in a makeshift boat along with soccer balls and some of his prized possessions into the Mekong River in Chiang Rai Province Thailand, Monday, March 6, 2023. Duangphet was one of the 12 boys rescued from a flooded cave in 2018. He died in the U.K. last month. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
CHIANG SAEN, Thailand (KAWEEWIT KAEWJINDA Associated Press) — Family members, monks and friends watched from a boat Monday as the ashes of one of the 12 boys rescued from a flooded cave in northern Thailand in 2018 were released into the Mekong River. Seventeen-year-old Duangphet Phromthep died last month while attending a sports academy in England.
Duangphet’s ashes floated away in a makeshift vessel, along with soccer balls and some of his prized possessions, in an area of the river in Chiang Rai, the country’s northernmost province, where the borders of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand meet known as the Golden Triangle.
The makeshift boat with the ashes of Duangphet Phromthep and soccer balls, are seen in the Mekong River as his family released it into the river, in Chiang Rai Province Thailand, Monday, March 6, 2023. Duangphet was one of the 12 boys rescued from a flooded cave in 2018. He died in the U.K. last month. (AP Photo /Sakchai Lalit)
His body was cremated in a Buddhist ceremony in England in accordance with his family’s wishes.
Phra Khru Prayut Chetiyanukarn, abbot of the province’s Wat Phra That Doi Wao temple who led the Buddhist funeral procession, said the location is where people often scatter the ashes of their family members. He said the Golden Triangle “is believed to contain a Naga that helps protect and takes care (of the dead) for us.”
Family members, accompanied by monks and fellow mourners, prepare to release the ashes of Duangphet Phromthep in a makeshift boat into the Mekong River in Chiang Rai Province Thailand, Monday, March 6, 2023. Duangphet was one of the 12 boys rescued from a flooded cave in 2018. He died in the U.K. last month. (AP Photo /Sakchai Lalit)
Nagas are serpent-like mystical creatures that are revered according to Thai Buddhist beliefs. The Mekong River is one of Asia’s longest, spanning almost 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles), and runs through several countries including China, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos.
Duangphet, known as Dom, was found unconscious in his room on Feb. 12 at Brooke House College Football Academy in Leicestershire in central England. He died in a hospital two days later.
The cause of death has not been released to the public by coroners, but police said it was not believed to be suspicious.
Family members hold the portrait of Duangphet Phromthep and ashes before releasing his ashes into the Mekong River in Chiang Rai Province Thailand, Monday, March 6, 2023. Duangphet was one of the 12 boys rescued from a flooded cave in 2018. He died in the U.K. last month. (AP Photo /Sakchai Lalit)
Buddhist prayer sessions for Duangphet took place over the weekend at Wat Phra That Doi Wao in his hometown of Chiang Rai after his ashes arrived from Britain on Sunday.
The temple is less than 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Tham Luang cave, where Duangphet and 11 of his “Wild Boar” soccer teammates and their coach were trapped for more than two weeks before being safely guided out by expert cave divers in a miraculous effort that captured global interest.
Adul Sam-on, a former teammate who was trapped with him in 2018, arrived in Chiang Rai on Monday from New York, where he is studying, to say his final goodbyes to Duangphet, one of his closest friends.
Adul Sam-on, a member of the Wild Boars soccer team rescued from a flooded cave 2018, talks to a reporter in front of the ashes of late Duangphet Phromthep at Wat Phra That Doi Wao temple in Chiang Rai province Thailand, Monday, March 6, 2023. The ashes of Duangphet Phromthep in a makeshift boat were scattered into the Mekong River Monday. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
“Even though today was the last day of the ceremony, I’m happy I made it,” Adul said. “We were so close. We were just like brothers.”
Duangphet was described by his friends and coaches as a talented and determined soccer player.
“He was so good at football both technically and mentally,” said Anucha Ratchacote, 17, a former teammate of Duangphet at Vachiralai Bee School in Chiang Mai. “He wanted to play for the national team and I think he was good enough.”
FILE - Will Smith, right, hits presenter Chris Rock on stage while presenting the award for best documentary feature at the Oscars on Sunday, March 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
A year after Will Smith smacked him on the Academy Awards stage, Chris Rock finally gave his rebuttal in a forceful stand-up special, streamed live on Netflix, in which the comedian bragged that he “took that hit like Pacquiao.”
The 58-year-old comedian on Saturday night performed his first stand-up special since last year’s Oscars in a much-awaited sequel that had all the hype — and more — of a Manny Pacquaio prizefight. “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage,” streamed live from the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, marked Netflix’s first foray into live streaming. But it was also a long-awaited comedy counterpunch to Academy Awards infamy.
Rock, performing in all white and with a Prince medallion around his neck, immediately touched on last year’s Oscars while riffing on “wokeness,” hypersensitivity and what he called “selective outrage.”
“You never know who might get triggered,” said Rock. “Anybody who says words hurt hasn’t been punched in the face.”
But Rock then launched into a series of wide-ranging topics examining contemporary issues, including virtue signaling, high-priced yoga pants, the Duchess of Sussex, the Kardashians, abortion rights, the Capitol riot and what he called America’s biggest addiction: Attention.
“We used to want love, now we just want likes,” said Rock.
Rock, who also riffed on how he’d respond if his father transitioned to a woman (he would support him, Rock said), made clear “Selective Outrage” was not going to be just a Will Smith show. Only occasionally did Rock’s material dovetail with the 2022 Oscars, like it did when Rock joked about the oddity of Snoop Dogg becoming such a venerated pitch man for advertisers.
“I’m not dissing Snoop,” said Rock. “The last thing I need is another mad rapper.”
This image released by Netflix shows promotional art for “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage” a comedy special streaming live on March 4. (Netflix via AP)
But an hour into his set, Rock closed the special with a torrent of material about the notorious Academy Awards moment.
“You all know what happened to me, getting smacked by Suge Smith. Everybody knows,” Rock said. “It still hurts. I got ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ears.”
While Smith has apologized and repeatedly spoken about the incident since last March, Rock has avoided all the usual platforms where celebrities often go to air their feelings. He never sat down with Oprah Winfrey, and turned away the many media outlets that would have loved to land an exclusive in-depth interview.
“I’m a not a victim, baby,” said Rock. “You will never see me on Oprah or Gayle crying. You will never see it. Never going to happen.”
But Rock did use his encounter with Smith to shape and enliven his second stand-up special for Netflix. Some of his best material was on their physical differences.
“We are not the same size. This guy does movies with his shirt off,” said Rock. “You will never see me do a movie with my shirt off. If I’m in a movie getting open-heart surgery, I got on a sweater.”
“He played Muhammed Ali,” added Rock. “I played Pookie in ‘New Jack City.’”
Ultimately, Rock suggested he was just caught in the crossfire in Smith’s relationship with his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. It was a joke that Rock told about Pinkett Smith that prompted Smith to stride on stage and strike Rock. The comedian on Saturday referenced Pinkett Smith’s earlier confessions of having an “entanglement” with another man while married.
“I did not have any entanglements,” said Rock. “She hurt him way more than he hurt me.”
“I love Will Smith,” added Rock. “Now I watch ‘Emancipation’ just to see him get whooped.”
Before dropping his microphone and holding his arms up triumphantly, Rock left the crowd with one last zinger. Rock said the reason why he didn’t physically retaliate at the Oscars was because “I got parents.”
“And you know what my parents taught me?” he said. “Don’t fight in front of white people.”
Netflix added pre- and post-show bookends of star-studded live programming with, as host comedian Ronny Chieng said, “every comedy legend who owes Netflix a favor.” Bono lent a opening introduction. Dana Carvey and David Spade hosted the after-show. Paul McCartney, Tracy Morgan, Adam Sandler, Jerry Seinfeld and one of last year’s Oscar hosts, Wanda Sykes, all added pre-taped messages. Arsenio Hall guaranteed Rock’s set would cause Smith to smack his television set.
For much of the past year, Rock has been touring new material in a long string of performances as part of his Ego Death tour. The shows, which had been announced before the 2022 Oscars, have featured performances with Dave Chappelle and Kevin Hart.
On the road, Rock has often worked in jokes and reflections on the slap. Rock first broke his public silence about the slap three nights after the Oscar ceremony, last year in Boston. “How was your weekend?” he asked the crowd. He added that he was “still kind of processing what happened.”
After plenty of processing, Rock retook the cultural spotlight just a week before the March 12 Oscars, where the slap is sure to revisited by this year’s host, Jimmy Kimmel. In the aftermath of last year’s events, Smith resigned his membership to the film academy. The academy board of governors banned Smith from the Oscars and all other academy events for a decade.
At the annual luncheon for nominees held last month, motion picture academy president Janet Yang voiced regret about how the incident was handled, calling the academy’s response “inadequate.” Bill Kramer, the academy’s chief executive, has said the academy has since instituted a crisis communications team to prepare for and more rapidly respond to the unexpected.
“Selective Outrage” is Rock’s second special for Netflix, following 2018’s “Tamborine.” They’re part of a two-special $40 million deal Rock signed with the streamer in 2016.
As new as the live “Selective Outrage” was for Netflix, it was hard not to notice a few familiar things about it.
“You’ve got to give it to the tech companies for inventing something that existed for decades,” said Chieng. “We’re doing a comedy show on Saturday night … live. Genius.”
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Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
