Chris Rock slams Woke 1 advocates for forgiveness while likening era to Salem Witch Trials

Chris Rock is getting candid about the importance of forgiveness in a world so quick to cancel others.

During a recent appearance on “The Daily” podcast, the 61-year-old comedian discussed his issues with “wokeness,” saying that while advocating for marginalized people and giving them a voice is great, it needs to come with forgiveness.

“The problem with wokeness is we’re in the Old Testament right now,” he said. “And the Old Testament has no forgiveness. The Old Testament didn’t work. So they had to write a remix called the New Testament.”

Host David Marchese then asked if he thought there was “anything redeeming” that came out of the post-George Floyd era, which he referred to as “woke 1.0,” since Democratic politicians now seem to be straying further from that ideology now.

The “Grown Ups” star reiterated his position that “it’s great to help those that need help,” but noted the problem comes “when you institutionalize it.”

“The Salem witch hunts. I’m sure the first three witches they caught were actually f- – -ing witches,” he said. “But then you open up a witch office and now you’ve got to start lying. Now you’ve gotta f- – – ing make s- – – up because you’ve got overhead. You’ve got to justify the witch hunters f – – -ing pensions and s- – -.”

“The problem with wokeness is we’re in the Old Testament right now,” he said. “And the Old Testament has no forgiveness. The Old Testament didn’t work. So they had to write a remix called the New Testament.” Clasos.com.mx / SplashNews.com

He explained that just because he advocates for forgiveness, it “doesn’t mean condoning abusive behavior. You can reprimand your friends,” adding that holding them accountable is “also part of friendship.”

“If you’re only friends with your friends when they’re good, they’re not your friends,” he said.

While he admits there is room for improvement when it comes to cancel culture and wokeness, he noted he is “glad that all of this stuff happened,” as it allowed for certain voices to be heard which otherwise may not have been.

Kaivan Shroff — a former Hillary Clinton campaign staffer – disagreed with Rock, telling Fox News Digital the comedian “is oversimplifying this in a way that is pretty self-serving.”

“Sometimes the problem is not that people ‘took a joke out of context.’ Often the context is perfectly clear and the comedian knows exactly who the joke is aimed at, knows a lot of people will find it offensive, and is counting on that discomfort to make the material feel edgy or viral,” Shroff said. “You don’t get to use outrage as part of the act and then act shocked when the outrage follows.”

Chris Rock attends U.S. Premiere of Chris Rock’s ‘Misty Green’ at annual NYFF64 at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in New York, NY on September 26, 2026. ZUMAPRESS.com

Rock is currently promoting his new film, “Misty Green,” which he wrote and directed in addition to starring in it.

The film follows an award-winning actress, Misty Green, who is working hard to make a comeback after years of watching her career slowly fade away, with Rock portraying a casting director who once worked with the actress.

“I’m really into expiration dates. I have a lot of friends who are in their 50s or whatever and there’s this thing everybody tells you, ‘You can do art forever.’ And that’s just not true,” he said. “And a lot of show business has, like you’ve got to reach certain plateaus by a certain time or else you’re going to be in trouble. So yeah, Misty is turning 40 and there’s a little bit of an expiration date happening here. I wanted to do a movie about Hollywood. I wanted to do a movie about the expiration dates we all have.”

He said he also wanted to make a movie about Los Angeles, calling it a “tale of two cities,” noting that while there is “sunshine and palm trees,” people are also “constantly walking over homeless people.”

The actor previously spoke about the message he wanted to get across when making the film, telling Variety in September that much of the movie is about Los Angeles, which he called a “complicated place” that “attracts an underbelly that people want to pretend doesn’t exist.”

“A lot of it’s about L.A. L.A. has got very wonky priorities,” he said. “There’s a real estate office on the same street as The Ivy on Robertson, and in the window, there are houses for $30-$40 million. In the window. But there’s a homeless guy sleeping right outside. The movie is about that crazy dichotomy.”