Chris Rock revealed in a candid interview Tuesday that a past addiction to pornography played a significant role in the dissolution of his marriage and his subsequent decade-long hiatus from the director’s chair.
Speaking with GQ for its “Men of the Year” issue, the 61-year-old entertainer admitted he has been clean from the habit for approximately six years, a change he credits with helping him regain his personal and professional footing.
Rock, who recently directed the comedy-drama “Misty Green,” reflected on the 12-year gap between his latest project and his 2014 hit “Top Five.” He attributed the lengthy delay to the fallout of his 2016 divorce from Malaak Compton-Rock, his wife of 20 years. The comedian noted that the legal separation not only required emotional recovery but also necessitated a return to the road to rebuild his finances through extensive stand-up tours.
“I was not a great husband,” Rock said during the interview, pointing specifically to his consumption of pornographic content as a primary factor. He explained that he is not proud of his past behavior but views the experience as a period where he had to learn the limits of his own ego. The actor compared his previous mindset to a superhero character who becomes an “asshole” while testing their newfound abilities.
“Every Marvel movie, man or woman, they have to test their powers,” Rock said. “They’re assholes… then they crash down because they realize they’re not God.” He added that he similarly tested his own boundaries during his period of fame and was ultimately “severely humbled” by the consequences of his actions.
Chris Rock Opens Up on Addiction:
The divorce from Compton-Rock was finalized in 2016. The former couple shares two biological daughters, 24-year-old Lola Simone and 22-year-old Zahra. Rock noted that “nobody has a successful divorce,” emphasizing that the process of getting his life back together took priority over his filmmaking aspirations for several years.
His latest film, “Misty Green,” comes after years of “getting my life together,” a process he suggested was necessary to create meaningful work again.
The comedian previously touched on themes of infidelity and addiction in his 2017 stand-up special “Tamborine,” but his latest comments offer a more definitive timeline for his recovery.
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