ABOVE: Watch Chris Rock’s monologue on Saturday Night Live.
TORONTO — Comedian Chris Rock’s return to Saturday Night Live kicked off with a controversial monologue in which he joked about the Boston Marathon, 9/11 and the new skyscraper on the site of the World Trade Center.
“I am never going in the Freedom Tower,” he said. “I don’t care if Scarlett Johansson is butt naked on the 89th floor in a plate of ribs.
“There is no circumstance that will ever get me in that building. Are you kidding me? Does this building duck? What are they thinking? Who’s the corporate sponsor, Target?”
Rock also joked about the inevitable commercialization of 9/11.
“We’re only five years away from 9/11 sales,” he said. “That’s right, you’re going to hear it on the radio: ‘Come on down to Red Lobster. These shrimp are $9.11.'”
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Rock, 49, was a cast member on SNL from 1990 to 1993 and returned to host the show in 1996.
In his monologue, the comedian also made a joke about the Boston Marathon bombings that killed three people and seriously injured many others.
“Just think about it β 26 miles!” he said. “You’ve been training for a year, you finally get to the finish line, and somebody yells, ‘RUN!'”
Though there was some negative reaction on social media, many people took to Twitter to defend Rock.
Here is a sample:
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