In 2011,New Folder (2014) Louis CK, Ricky Gervais, and Chris Rock all sat together in a room and tossed around the N-word while a visibly uncomfortable Jerry Seinfeld watched.
It was a moment from HBO's unscripted comedy special, Talking Funny, in which the four comics sat together and pondered their work in stand-up. It's not a new video. But it's newly resurfaced, and its rediscovered existence has raised quite a ruckus.
SEE ALSO: Former Facebook employee releases internal memo accusing the company of failing its black users and employeesOn the one hand, you have two white men dropping the N-word repeatedly as they discuss the word's use, or lack thereof, in their work. And on the other, you have Rock sitting right there, laughing along with and encouraging the tangential exploration of a horrible slur's comedic value while two of the white men sitting beside him say it again and again.
Seinfeld appears to be the only voice of reason in the room. After remaining largely silent for most of the conversation, he weighs in toward the end after CK points to his own use of the N-word as emblematic of the difference between Seinfeld's work and CK's.
"Well, you've found the humor of [using that word]," Seinfeld responds. "I haven't found it. Nor do I seek it."
Again: this happened in 2011. And this clip hasn't exactly been a hard thing to find in the years since. That's not an excuse for anything that was said, but it's been around for a while.
You can check out the video for yourself, but note the content warninghere. The N-word flies frequently in this video, with CK and Gervais specifically repeating it multiple times.
Those are the facts of the situation. The response is more complicated, and naturally people took to working those thoughts out on Twitter Saturday night, with many frustrated and angry at Chris Rock, in addition to CK and Gervais, obviously.
Some threads that highlight a few common thoughts:
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Mashable reached out to Rock to see if he has any hindsight thoughts to share on the video as he looks back on it now in 2018.
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