Being a frequent porn viewer reportedly contributed to the breakdown of Chris Rock’s marriage to his ex-wife, Malaak Compton-Rock.
The comedian and director of Misty Green opened up about his past struggles with porn addiction during a GQ interview published Tuesday (Nov. 3), explaining how the habit affected his marriage. Rock and Compton-Rock finalized their divorce in 2016 after 20 years together. They share two biological daughters, Lola Simone, 24, and Zahra, 22.
During the conversation, GQ Special Projects Editor Zach Baron asked Rock about the 12-year gap between his romantic comedy Top Five and comedy-drama Misty Green, both of which he directed.
“Some of it is I got divorced. Nobody has a successful divorce, so that takes time,” Rock replied. “Then once it’s done, okay, 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.”
Rock admitted that he was “not a great husband,” partly due to how much porn he consumed during the marriage. “I don’t watch porn anymore. I haven’t watched porn in five, six years,” he added.
The comedian also acknowledged that he wasn’t “proud” of his past porn addiction, describing it as “something I had to go through.”
He went on to compare his experience to a character discovering and testing their abilities in a Marvel movie.
“It’s like you watch a Marvel movie, and the guy, he has to test his powers. You know what I mean?” he continued. “Every Marvel movie, man or woman, they have to test their powers. They’re assholes. They get these powers and they’re assholes, and they’re racing trains and they’re lifting up ocean liners and they try to go to the sun, then they crash down because they realize they’re not God.”
“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 concluded.
Rock previously discussed his porn addiction and infidelity during his 2018 Netflix comedy special, Tambourine. At the time, he revealed that both habits contributed to him becoming “sexually autistic” and “desensitized.”
“When you start watching porn, any porn’ll do. ‘Ah, they’re naked. Woo-hoo.’ Then, later on, you’re all fucked up,” he said during the special. “And you need a perfect porn cocktail to get you off. I was so fucked up, I needed an Asian girl with a black girl’s ass that speaks Spanish just to get my dick to move an inch. I’m a lot better now.”
