Madison Square Garden made a slew of headlines over the weekend, not just because the venue was filled up with fans eager to see Chris Rock and Kevin Hart live, but because Dave Chappelle also made an appearance. Footage from the event leaked and we learned at the time that Chappelle did a full set, but now, thanks to Hart, some new details have emerged about the concert and the event sounds unforgoatable. (I'm udderly sorry for that one.)
If you kept tabs on the show, there were some images running around on social media – though phones were supposed to be locked up during this event. That footage showed Kevin Hart seemingly giving Chris Rock a goat. Well, now thanks to a viral TikTok, we have some more details about the show and it is confirmed: Rock got a goat and that goat was named… Will Smith.
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We knew that Rock had been roasted about the infamous Oscars incident in recent weeks. Marlon Wayans recently said the Oscars slap incident has been fodder for comedians for months now. Chris Rock has also made his own share of standup jokes about the Will Smith incident, though he hasn’t addressed his specific feelings on the matter.
This week, while Kevin Hart was promoting his new tequila brand and more, the actor and comedian also shared details about how the goat/G.O.A.T. gag came about ahead of his sold out shows. Hart told Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show this week that he informed Dave Chappelle the goat thing would be happening, but Chappelle had was seemingly confused about the goat idea until Hart literally talked to his guy and showed up at the show with one.
So we get the goat but I hid the goat from Chris. I didn’t want him to see it. Dave knew about the goat, and at the end of the show, an amazing show, we all come back onstage and we’re saying goodnight and I said Chris you know, 'Chris is a mentor, friend, inspiration, but he’s a large part of the reason that I am where I am today in my career, just from his advice, his insight, et cetera, and he’s my G.O.A.T.' Like, he’s my guy and I wanted him to feel that and experience the world of understanding of how I feel about him in front of that audience. So I gave him the goat and said please give my guy his flowers. And they stood up, screamed... he almost broke down and cried onstage. You don't see that in our culture enough. You don't see a share of spotlight, a show of alignment...
The goat moment sounds extremely sweet when Hart puts it this way, but it also ended up being a bit of a wild card, as Kevin Hart recalled him destroying Chris Rock’s shoes --White Moon Boots -- and more after pooping while onstage. I once saw Kevin Hart hold a rabbit onstage opposite Tiffany Haddish at a CinemaCon event, whereupon the rabbit got really frisky and started climbing all over him, so one would think he’d understand at this point one can’t control live animals.
Hart also said he's "very lucky to have the relationships [he and Rock] have," before noting he pitched Chris Rock on the idea of doing some big shows on the East Coast before he convinced Dave Chappelle to make an appearance. He and Fallon also revealed Questlove, who works on The Tonight Show among other notable gigs, was present at the show.
Meanwhile, this isn’t the last time some kind of team-up like the Madison Square Garden one will happen. Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle have gigs lined up together in London this September
