Old Clip of Louis CK, Ricky Gervais and Chris Rock Using N-Word Draws Criticism

An old clip of Louis CK, Ricky Gervais and Chris Rock tossing around the N-word has resurfaced and is drawing criticism by many. As Deadline reports, the clip comes from a 2011 segment of the HBO special Talking Funny and features the trio — along with Jerry Seinfeld — discussing comedy. You can see the clip, which features several uses of the racial slur, below.

In the clip, CK is in the process of saying, “When a black guy gets rich, it’s a countdown to when he’s poor again.” Rock then calls CK “the blackest white guy I f***ing know…and all the negative things we think about black people, this f***er–” before CK shoots back, “You’re saying I’m a n*****?”

Rock replies, “You are the n*****est f***ing white man I have ever [met].” For his part, Seinfeld looks uncomfortable and tries to shut it down, saying that he doesn’t think CK “can do that…I don’t think he has those qualities.” Rock says he disagrees and in the midst of the conversation, Seinfeld expresses that he wouldn’t use that word in any situation. Gervais agrees with Seinfeld but drops the word in the middle of doing so.

Wayne Brady weighed in on the clip when TMZ caught up with him. Asked about his thoughts, Brady said, “It was inappropriate. Louis C.K. shouldn’t have been saying it. Chris Rock shouldn’t have signed off on it. Ricky Gervais sure as hell shouldn’t have said it and I’m a Ricky Gervais fan. And Seinfeld stayed out of it, but that doesn’t make him a hero or a saint. It just makes him tactically smart.”

He goes on to say that while it’s imappropriate, “it’s also an old tape. This thing of old things being dredged up…It happened. I’m sure that Chris addressed it at some point.”

TMZ also notes that when the special originally aired in 2011, there was no real criticism of the segment. The site singles out Entertainment Weekly as an outlet that praised the special without mentioning the use of the slur.