Chris Rock Unloads On Media For Tiger Woods Car Crash Coverage

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Video clip @ the URL below:

Chris Rock Unloads On Media For Tiger Woods Car Crash Coverage

http://newsroom.mtv.com/2009/12/01/tiger-woods-car-crash/

Posted 16 minutes ago by MTV News in Movies

By Eric Ditzian

Chris Rock has never been known as a guy who keeps his opinions to himself. On Monday night on the red carpet at the Gotham Independent Film Awards in New York, group of reporters decided to ask the comedian's opinion about Tiger Woods' single-SUV crash into a fire hydrant and tree outside his Florida home (which, because of Woods' silence over the matter, has spiraled into a mess of rumor and speculation involving Woods, his wife Elin and a woman named Rachel Uchitel with whom the golfer supposedly had an affair).

Rock's expletive-filled reply (which was directed at the media and not at Woods) shined a harsh light on the blurry line between journalism and gossip.

"I don't have advice for anybody," he declared. "Nope. He got in a car accident. What the f---? You guys are the news. You're supposed to report the news. A guy crashed his car. You're making up s---. So are you reporting the news or are you making the news?"

Rock went on to stay there was no PR situation to be "handled" because the man simply got into a car accident. Readers, do yourself a favor and click on the video, because no printed quotes can capture the hilarity and savagery of Rock's truth-speaking delivery.

Just before heading inside for the ceremony, he added, "If I crashed my car on my f---ing property, it's a private matter!"

[AspenRose]

1. That's how you handle it

Enthusiastic Recommend

[Noseyaboutpollution]

40. Messing around isn't a crime

His business, it's not news. Illegal activity is fair game. Family business is different.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

2. Are Chris Rock and Tiger Woods friends?

Why would reporters ask Chris Rock about Tiger Woods?

[AspenRose]

3. All black people in celebrityville know each other. So says the media.

:sarcasm:

[Captain Hilts]

8. And, like women, they need a media-appointed 'leader'. nt

[dustbunnie]

10. They always ask quote-worthy people about news items.

And Chris Rock always has a great take on these things. They asked him about Roman Polansky too. It's not like he's an expert on statutory rape either.

[Captain Hilts]

4. Once you get on the police blotter, things change.

Woods is so much more than a golfer to many people.

I don't like the speculation either, by the way, but when the rescue squad comes, the police come and you are on the blotter.

[SoCalDem]

6. and he damaged city property (the hydrant) & ended up in his neighbor's yard

after hitting the neighbor's tree..

Florida has a "zero tolerance" for family violence, and they probably suspect that something went on" prior to the crash.. They have to investigate (and secretly, they probably enjoy taking a celeb down a peg).

Once the legal folks & the law enforcement folks iron out the details, it will all die down, and some new shiny thing will mesmerize the media..

[quiller4]

7. The hydrant isn't city property -- county maybe but the homes

are in an unincorporated area. Since Wood's owns the house next to his and rents it out, he hit his own tree.

[SoCalDem]

whatever.. it will all calm down in a while

:)

[Captain Hilts]

9. Yes. nt

[Fumesucker]

5. It wasn't the fact that Mr Woods had a car crash..

It was the rather err.. strange circumstances surrounding the crash and Mr and Mrs Woods' silence about those circumstances just fueled speculation.

Mr Woods is wealthy and famous, he had no problem with the fame when it was to his advantage, unfortunately for Mr Woods fame is a two edged sword and people are also interested when you fuck up as well as when you do good.

[HelenWheels]

11. Right

Tiger is a public figure and laps up adulation from the public but doesn't want to face up to criticism. Whoopi Goldberg also said the press should leave Tiger alone. Nuts! If he wants the good publicity he should man up to the bad. As for Whoopi, she protects all celebrities even said about the kiddie rapist, Polanski, "It wasn't really 'rape' rape."

[Last Stand]

16. This is a black and white issue.

He SELLS his image. His endorsements are tied not only to his performance on the golf course, but directly to his character. When you take this path in your career, you have to expect to be in the spotlight. It doesn't matter what color you are.

[sabrina 1]

21. What strange circumstances?

If you mean the speculation by the tabloids, since when does anyone give credence to the gutter press's speculations about celebrities unless they have a vested interest in seeing someone's life destroyed by the scum that passes for journalism in this country?

As Jeffrey Toobin said, this is a nothing story. A guy had a minor accident, if he wasn't a celebrity his insurance company would be handling it right now.

It is disgusting to see people play into the despicable vulturous addiction to taking down someone who has made it in an honest way in this country.

Good for Chris Rock, I hope more people speak out against this kind of abuse and trial by media.

Oh, and I don't know anything about golf or Tiger Woods, but I am sick to death of living in a country where the press cannot report on real news and spends its time making up stories for stupid people to drool over.


I can't help wondering if the interest in his private life has anything to do with the fact that he and his wife are in an inter-racial marriage. Wouldn't surprise me at all.

[Fumesucker]

22. Live by celebrity, die by celebrity..

I don't like the celebrity culture either but those who make huge piles of money off it are the last ones who should be complaining when it turns around and bites them or another celebrity in the ass.

And yes, the circumstances were a little strange, man pulls out of his driveway at a very late hour and runs into (and apparently over) a fire hydrant and then a tree. Couple that with rumors of infidelity on the part of Mr Woods, the broken windows on his car and the lack of statements from the Woods family and speculation is as inevitable as gravity.

When you bask in the limelight don't bitch if it sometimes burns you.

[sabrina 1]

27. Not a single thing you have written there is anyone's

business but the people involved. The police have dealt with the accident and the case is closed. All speculation has pretty much been debunked by those who actually know what happened and the police are satisfied. It makes you wonder what kind of people are those who spend their time hoping to hear bad news about people they do not even know. The case is now closed and that should be the end of it. Good for the police for treating it as they would any other case.

As for your assertion that if you are famous, you should expect to be slammed in the media, that is utter nonsense. People who achieve fame by their talents owe nothing to anyone, other than to do the best they can when they are performing. After that, they have as much right to privacy, particularly in their own homes and regarding their families, as every other citizen.

And those who think as you do, are the main cause of the problems some of these people endure, sometimes to the point of harming them. You, nor anyone else has any right to know anything about the private lives of these people that they do not want you to know. You are not paying for that information are you?

As far as any personal matters, such as you referred to, who cares other than the people directly involved? What business is it of yours? Do you know these people personally? Is your own life so boring, or so perfect that you have a need to spy on the personal lives of others?

Now, I hope he gets back to the game that made him famous and the rest we do not need to know about. There is real news that needs to be covered that effects all of us.

[Fire1]

30. Amen. Well said. n/t

[Fumesucker]

35. They cause their own problems..

I pay very little attention to celebrity, I'm not a sports fan, I rarely watch movies and I almost never watch TV.

But those who make a far better than average living by being in the limelight must be prepared to pay the price, it comes with the territory, that is simply a matter of fact.

For every gift there is a price that must be paid, the gift of celebrity comes with the price of a great many people being curious about your personal life.

My life is far from perfect, but then I'm not making cubic megabux having my face plastered all over the TV and magazines.

[sabrina 1]

39. Tiger Woods doesn't make mega bucks having his face

plastered all over the TV and magazines either. He makes it playing golf. In your world, anyone who legitimately makes money has to give up their right to privacy in their own personal lives? Once someone makes money, the public has the right to peer into their bedrooms? Since when?

You couldn't be more wrong, as the myriad of lawsuits filed by celebrities over time have proven. What law supports your theory?

You are advocating different laws for people who, through their own efforts make a lot of money, than the laws that apply to the average person. That doesn't work in a democracy. Everyone has the same rights under the law, rich and poor and no one gives up their right to not have a prurient public peering into their bedrooms. What a horrible world that would be. But IF I were to go along with your theory I would have to say that wealth is relative. And the average office worker would then have the right to spy on their bosses and gossip about them around the water cooler since the boss has way more money than they do.

I think you need to rethink your theory, it certainly isn't supported by any law and appears to come from some kind of envy of those who succeed in making more money than you. I can only hope for your sake, that there isn't anyone in your life who is making less money than you, who feels the same way about your rights.

[Fumesucker]

42. The last thing I want is someone peering in my bedroom..

Which is why I would not wish to be a celebrity, no matter how much money came with it.

I'm not talking about law, I'm talking about facts.

Mr Woods makes a great deal of money off endorsements, more than from golf I suspect although I really have no idea. I've seen him on TV selling Buicks and like I said I almost never watch TV. Selling Buicks has zip to do with golf and everything to do with being a celebrity.

Quite a lot of people are fascinated by celebrities for some reason I cannot fathom and do not share, that is a fact. As long as that fascination exists and other people can make money by feeding it there will be intrusions into the private lives of celebrities, that is as predictable as the sun rising tomorrow morning. If you do not wish to have your private life intruded upon by strangers then do not seek the limelight, it's really that simple.

[marshall]

34. When you sell yourself for a ride on the celebrity train, everybody owns a piece of you

Your business becomes everyone's business. Those who don't like it can get off the train, stop collecting the money, and start leading private lives again. Many a child actor who didn't make the decision for themselves to be a celebrity has dumped the lifestyle (and the payoffs) when they get old enough to make their own decisions.

[Toucano]

31. Surely there must be a higher standard than that.

Must everything that happens to a famous person become an obsession for weeks at a time?

One of our southern neighbors had their democratically elected president ousted in a military coup a few months ago, and they held an election on Sunday.

What is the U.S. reaction to that election?

Argentina´s reaction?

Brazil´s reaction?

Does anyone in the United States care about things that are actually important anymore?

[Fumesucker]

37. There *ought* to be a higher standard, but there's not..

Look at what happened here on DU when Micheal Jackson died, this place went nucking futs, there were MJ threads all over GD and probably a lot of the other forums also.

Personally I think it's stupid to get so wrapped up in the life of someone else, to live vicariously like that, but apparently that's human nature.

[peacetalksforall]

12. Hooray! BRAVOOOOOO! Chris Rock. This should become the standard

question for a great many scenes when they shove that mike in a person's face - do you report or do you make?

I just hope they have not decided to go on a tvlife-long campaign to tear down another man.

Does anyone here really, really care about Wood's private life? Or does he not deserve privacy?

[mrbarber]

13. Well said Chris.

Also, I will never forgot him calling Arianna Huffington a bitch during a Daily Show electoral coverage event.

[qanda]

14. My husband hit a sign on our street earlier this year

The police came out and took a report of the accident and the matter was then turned over to our insurance company and the county for any costs associated with replacing the sign. That was the end of it. I don't know why this has become such a big deal.

[Captain Hilts]

18. It happened at 2:15am. He's more than a golfer to many people. It's a weird accident. nt

[dugaresa]

20. i am one of those people that is up at odd hours doing odd ball things

like the time i was up til 4am painting my kitchen and then cleaning it and putting it away.

I have been known to run out to the store well after 1am to get my groceries because I am up late. I too could have an accident and other folks would say it was weird but in reality it isn't weird to me.

[Captain Hilts]

24. I, also, am up late. But the time sparks people's curiosity about Woods, and about me, actually. nt

[Dora]

25. He's "more than a golfer" to many people.

That's their problem, isn't it?

[KittyWampus]

15. Should Tiger Woods expect "special treatment" since he's black? Actually, it's a sign of progress-

the Mediawhores are JUST as happy to exploit a mixed race star's private life and exploits as anyone else's.

Like someone quipped about Martin Luther King day not just becoming a National Holiday but stores naming sales in his "honor".

[LooseWilly]

17. Thank you Chris Rock... why is it so hard to not give a shit about not-news in this country?

... no serious injuries... I don't give a shit... let the man be. I'm done.

[dugaresa]

19. The Public loves to cheer on anyone as they rise to the top and then they love it more to tear them

down when they have achieved it all.

When Tiger was the young golfer, he was the darling and we loved him and we wanted to see him kick ass.

Then he got insanely rich, married his supermodel wife and seemed to have it all. So what next?

Well the public has to see him suffer for it.

That seems to be a human foible, the joy in both achievements and suffering.

[-..__...]

23. Perhaps Woods should have followed a bit of Chris Rocks advice...

"If your woman is mad at you... leave her at home".

[bridgit]

26. CNN's Sanchez needs to start 'releasing' this story, he seems to be using it as a career enhancement

:thumbsdown:

[Toucano]

28. Thank you Chris Rock!

I am so sick of this Tiger Woods ¨story¨.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

29. Tiger should have said, "It's a private fucking matter."

That would have been the end of it. :*

[AndrewP]

32. Meh. If Woods wants to market himself, then he shouldn't be shocked

when people want to know more about him. Especially in such a weird circumstance.

I'm foragainst him, couldn't care less either way.

I just chuckle when celebrities cry about it being unfair to have people pay attention to them after putting their faces everywhere to sell GloboChem or whatever.

[underpants]

33. The ONE source of sports news (ESPN) has protected their product as is to be expected

[malaise]

36. Classic Rock

Fuck M$Greedia.
Tiger will be counting on people he ignored more and more...you Betcha.

[RB TexLa]

38. That is what just about every wife or husband beater tells everyone that it's a private matter

and to not investigate it.

[me b zola]

41. Absolutely right

And I don't normally speak up on behalf of pickles that celebrities find themselves in, but when the press began talking about how "unusual" it is for a person to use their constitutional rights to decline to give a statement to the police, well, I found myself cheering for Tiger.