The City of Angels has a dark side, according to Chris Rock.
The comedian sat down with Variety recently for an interview to promote his latest project.
The movie “Misty Green,” about an actress who suffered a long fall from grace, is appearing soon at the Toronto Film Festival before making its debut in theaters in October. Rock wrote and directed the movie.
During the interview, he was asked about Los Angeles
“The movie is about Misty Green, but a lot of it’s about LA. LA. has got very wonky priorities,” he said.
Chris Rock exposes LA’s dark ‘underbelly’ that people pretend doesn’t exist https://t.co/M7FmSWNBWp #FoxNews
— Javier Gonzalez (@JavierHustle) September 9, 2026
“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,” he said.
“But there’s a homeless guy sleeping right outside. The movie is about that crazy dichotomy.”
His two words to sum up Los Angeles? “It’s weird,” he said.
“I just bought a place there, so I winter in LA. I love parts of it,” he said.
“I always say: The average movie studio, like Paramount, what’s in Paramount? There’s cameras, sound equipment. But what are you gonna do with that? Can you really steal that stuff? There’s more value at the average Home Depot than at Paramount, but Paramount’s got armed guards. Why? Because they have dreams in there. And people will do anything to get to their dreams,” he said.
“LA is a complicated place, man. Fame’s a complicated thing,” he said.
“I’ve seen the switch in my lifetime. It used to be that everybody wanted to be great — a great singer, great actor, great comedian. Now it’s just fame, and the greatness is almost assumed. I mean, you’re always gonna be outed at some point if you don’t have the goods,” he said.
Rock, 61, said Los Angeles “is the mecca of that. It can be beautiful. It’s got the best weather in the world. But it also attracts an underbelly that people want to pretend doesn’t exist.”
During the interview, he was asked about being slapped by Will Smith at the Oscars.
“You know, to answer your question a little bit, I wish nothing would have happened,” he said, noting that he wants to focus on the movie, not the past.
“It’s a crazy world. We walk by homeless people. There’s all sorts of s*** going on right now. Me having a bad day is not the biggest — it’s not that important,” he said.
He added that he has no plans to go back to the Oscars — unless he’s nominated, which he said is unlikely.
“The only way I’ll go back is if I’m nominated, and I’m not getting nominated,” he said. “And that’s OK. We’ll deal with that if it happens. Like, let’s manage expectations.”
Chris Rock reveals he will only return to the Oscars on one condition after Will Smith slap https://t.co/SkfUFORdon
— Daily Mail (@DailyMail) September 8, 2026
During the interview, he mused about his celebrity status and the way success comes and goes.
“I try not to think about fame, but it could be a lot worse — you could be infamous. So I accept it. It helps me get work,” he said.
“You have your career, and you have your life. And they intertwine from time to time. Not everybody makes it. Some people are just dead, who you loved. And there’s people who didn’t make smart decisions, who now don’t get to express themselves, which is really not cool,” he said.
“The worst thing that can happen to an artist is not that you’re washed up. The worst thing that can happen is that you’re not washed up, and no one wants to hear you. That you’re actually still good, and you’ve f***ing worn out your welcome. I’ve seen it happen to other people where — I’m not gonna say who — but things just got so complicated,” he said.
The wide-ranging interview also touched on President Donald Trump.
Chris Rock says Trump got one thing so right it nearly redeems everything else: “The news is fake. He got that right.”
The legendary comedian told Variety he’s “not a fan” of the president — but gave Trump full credit for exposing media bias, saying it’s “weird when somebody… pic.twitter.com/eizUEOZXTz
— Fox News Flash (@FoxNews_Flash) September 9, 2026
“I’m not a fan. But it’s weird when somebody gets one thing right, and the one thing almost clears them of all their other sins. The news is fake. He got that right,” Rock said.
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