Chris Rock on the breakdown of his marriage

Chris Rock recently reflected on the collapse of his nearly 20-year marriage to Malaak Compton-Rock, the mother of his two daughters. Chris was named one of GQ’s 2026 Men of the Year with the release of his new movie Misty Green, which he wrote, directed, and stars in alongside Rosalind Eleazar, Anna Kendrick, Daniel Kaluuya, Adam Driver and Topher Grace. During his interview he reflected on some of his failures as a husband, as well as what it would take for him to return to the Oscars after the incident between him and Will Smith (spoiler alert: he says he’s not going back unless he has a nomination, which won't happen based on Sarah’s review).

Chris told GQ that he was not a ‘great’ husband. He says that much of his poor performance as a husband was due to excessive porn consumption and infidelity which he says he’s not ‘proud’ of, but that it’s something he ‘had to go through’.

“I watched a lot of porn. I don’t watch porn anymore. I haven’t watched porn in five, six years,” he said. “It’s like you watch a Marvel movie, and the guy, he has to test his powers. You know what I mean? Every Marvel movie, man or woman, they have to test their powers,” he said.

“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. And then they start helping people. 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.”

Chris and Malaak were married for 18 years before announcing their separation in 2014. It would be two full years before their divorce was finalized. In a statement at the time, Malaak said:

“After much contemplation and 19 years of marriage, Chris and I have decided to go our separate ways. Being fortunate enough to lead a life of service by working with those most vulnerable makes me well aware of life’s blessings, even when faced with difficulties.”

Of course, she went on to say that her kids and their well-being remained at the ‘center’ of her life and asked for privacy. The pair agreed that he would never discuss their relationship during his stand-up comedy routines.

Back in 2017, Chris did an interview with Rolling Stone and spoke more about why this was an important agreement for them to come to:

“It’s not fair. I have a mic, she doesn’t. God forbid people are bugging her in the supermarket. That’s not cool. I’m going to have to see her at weddings and graduations.”

While that’s a pretty fair and mature agreement to make, Chris has definitely spoken at length in his routines, perhaps not about their personal relationship, but about the cost of divorce and alimony. In fact, the same year his divorce was finalized, he appeared at the New York Comedy Festival, joking about a potential appearance on Dancing with the Stars to help cover the cost of his split. “When you see me on Dancing with the Stars, I’m not on crack, that’s just alimony,” he told the audience.

And just one week after announcing their separation, Chris appeared on stage with the following joke, saying:

“Marriage is so tough, Nelson Mandela got divorced. He got out of jail after 27 years of torture, spent six months with his wife and said, ‘I can’t take this sh-t no more!’”

After confirming his split, Chris put an end to a nearly decade long hiatus, signing a massive deal with Netflix. The Hollywood Reporter called it a ‘king’s ransom’ because it was more than comedians like Jerry Seinfeld, Louis C.K. and Amy Schumer have been paid – a whopping $40 million for two Netflix specials. 

Despite the maturity I mentioned in his agreement to keep their personal relationship out of his bits, him likening what, by all measures, sounds like a porn addiction to a Marvel character needing to ‘test their strength’ is…laughable. And I hate to say that because I actually think it takes a lot of vulnerability to speak candidly to the media about the collapse of your marriage, particularly when you were the one admittedly at fault.

And him being at fault is why I find it so interesting the Chris was the one to file. And notice my use of the word ‘interesting’, not ‘surprising’. I don’t know much about Malaak, but from what I do know about her and about devoted wives and mothers, I think she was trying to keep it together for her children, which is what devoted wives and mothers, even in awful relationships, try to do, which is why it’s not necessarily a surprise.

I also think it’s interesting that we really haven’t heard much from her, at least not on the divorce front. Instead, she, just like she alluded to in her statement about her split from Chris, has charged ahead with her humanitarian work, helping uplift women in South Africa. As an aside, she’s also aging impeccably, as seen on her Instagram profile where there are photos of her doing her humanitarian work and supporting her daughters, often with Chris in tow. 

All of this seems like a tale as old as time. They got together just as his career was starting to take off, going from his early film debuts and moving more into the mainstream. In 1996, their first year of dating, he had his breakout HBO special, Bring the Pain, which would go on to win two Emmys.

I think Chris followed the script. Find a good woman, marry her, have a few kids. But he didn’t account for the person fame would transform him into. That ‘power’ that he was referring to wasn’t about his porn addiction, it was about the power that came with fame, the women, the parties, the money. Most of this came during his marriage, but he didn’t have the discipline or the discernment to say no – not to the women, not to the parties and not to the endless sea of things and experiences he could buy with his money, so he indulged and years later, it would cost him his marriage.

It's no coincidence that we see this kind of thing with men, so much more than we see it with women. Stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Gavin Rossdale and Ethan Hawke have all been rumoured to have had affairs with their family nannies. World famous golfer Tiger Woods and his wife divorced in 2010 after public revelations of his persistent infidelity. The literal King, then-Prince, cheated on Princess Diana and went on to marry his…side piece.

And even when it comes to porn addictions, the statistics are staggering. According to the National Library of Medicine, roughly 11% of men and 3% of women reported some level of agreement with the statement ‘I am addicted to pornography’. And pornography consumption follows a similar trend, with 76% of men and 41% of women reporting pornography use within the last year. All of this can lead to compromised sexual performance and especially compromised enjoyment. Why? Because as luck would have it, the type of sex you have in real life and the person you have that sex with on a random Wednesday in your marital home is very different from the fantasy you’ve seen play out on your screen.

Perhaps that is what Chris is talking about in saying he was rightfully humbled. He realized that he fell for the fantasy. The fantasy of power. The fantasy of porn. The fantasy of fame. And so many people do, only to end up divorced and alone – which, to be clear, isn’t the worst thing. But having to sit with some of the reasons you lost the life you once lived and the family that you once had, well, I imagine that could come pretty close.

Click here for more of Chris Rock in GQ.