Chris Rock is opening up about his past behavior during his marriage, giving up pornography and the changes he’s made in his personal life.
The 61-year-old comedian and actor is featured on the cover of GQ‘s 2026 Men of the Year issue, where he reflects on his divorce from Malaak Compton-Rock, going to therapy and his future in Hollywood.
Chris and Malaak married in 1996, separated in 2014 and finalized their divorce in 2016. They share two daughters, Lola and Zahra.
Chris Rock Opens Up About Cheating on His Ex-Wife, Malaak
In his 2018 Netflix comedy special Tamborine, Chris previously admitted that he had cheated on his wife and struggled with pornography use.
In his new interview, Chris once again reflected on his former relationship, and admitted to cheating.
“I was not a great husband. I watched a lot of porn. I don’t watch porn anymore. I haven’t watched porn in five, six years,” he told GQ.
He also acknowledged that his past behavior wasn’t something he was proud of.
“It’s not anything I’m proud of, but it’s something I had to go through,” he said.
“I tested my powers. I definitely realized I wasn’t God or anywhere near him, and I was severely humbled, as I should have been,” he reflected.
Chris discussed how his divorce affected his career, including the 12-year gap between directing 2014’s Top Five and his new A24 movie Misty Green.
“Nobody has a successful divorce, so that takes time,” he explained, adding that he returned to touring while trying to get his personal life back together, as well as his finances.
“Then once it’s done, you’re not sitting on the money you had before, so now you got to really make some money. So you go on tour, or two tours. So there was a lot of stand-up. There was a lot of getting my life together,” he continued.
Chris Rock Opens Up About Therapy & His Learning Disorder
Chris also discussed seeking therapy after realizing his personal relationships weren’t where he wanted them to be.
“My personal life wasn’t what I wanted it to be. And I’ll leave it at that,” he said, describing how emotional he was when he first started therapy.
He also opened up about being diagnosed with nonverbal learning disorder, which can affect how someone interprets nonverbal social cues.
According to Chris, receiving the diagnosis helped him recognize how some of his behavior had affected others throughout his life.
“It made me realize how insensitive a lot of my behavior was throughout the years,” he admitted, going on to reflect on how he thought his fame affected his relationships.
“Mental illness and celebrity—it’s a weird combination there, because you think people are reacting a certain way because of celebrity,” he explained.
“Because it’s this weird thing that you can’t quantify. So I used to just blame everything on celebrity. It’s like, ‘Oh, we’re not connecting because I had a chronic unique-ism.’ I thought I was so f—ing unique.”
Is Chris Rock Planning to Retire From Stand-Up Comedy?
Elsewhere in the interview, Chris revealed that he expects to focus more on directing, although he isn’t officially announcing his retirement from stand-up.
“I’m probably going to direct more. I don’t know how much [more] stand-up I’m going to do,” he said.
“I got like six, seven specials, man. That’s a lot. So I don’t know. I’m not announcing anything or anything, but if I do it, I want to do it right.”
Chris Rock Doesn’t Want the 2022 Oscars Slap to Define His Career
He also reflected on the infamous 2022 Oscars incident involving Will Smith, explaining that he wants audiences to focus on his creative work rather than that incident.
“Something happened. It wasn’t cool. And I would like to move on,” he said.
“I know there’s a part of that that’s going to follow me the rest of my life…I have a plethora of art I’m trying to get out, and that’s what I want you to pay attention to, not some crazy night,” he continued.
Read his full interview at GQ.
Posted To:A24 Chris Rock GQ Malaak Compton Malaak Compton-rock Misty Green Movies Netflix NSFW Oscars Top Five Will Smith
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