Chris Rock is looking back at his shortcomings as a husband, specifically an overreliance on porn, which he admits he used to watch constantly to the detriment of his marriage.
The comedian addressed the taboo subject in an interview for GQ’s Men of the Year issue, opening up about his marriage to Malaak Compton-Rock, which ended in 2016. He said he wasn’t a great husband and watched a lot of porn, but that he hasn’t watched any in five or six years.
It’s unclear whether the porn actually fueled his bad behavior, though Rock seems to connect the two in his own mind. He said he isn’t proud of that period but feels it was something he had to go through, comparing himself to a Marvel hero who learns to be less selfish and embrace his truest self.
Rock also discussed his diagnosis with a nonverbal learning disorder, saying it made him realize how insensitive much of his behavior had been over the years. He noted that mental illness and celebrity make a strange combination, since people assume others react to them a certain way because of fame, which is hard to measure. He used to blame everything on celebrity, he said, as if a lack of connection came from being uniquely famous, when really he just thought he was incredibly unique.
Though Rock mixes in some of his trademark humor, the interview shows a serious side the comedian doesn’t often reveal.
