Yikes! Chris Rock has revealed he once received death threats after voicing support for gun control.
The 49-year-old comic made his comments on Chelsea Handler's E! talk show Chelsea Lately in an episode that aired on Thursday. She told Rock she saw him talk about gun control in one of his stand-up shows in Los Angeles several months ago. The comedian has in recent days been making surprise appearances at the city's comedy clubs as he prepares to host the 2014 BET Awards this Sunday, June 29.
"You're pretty passionate about gun control. You love guns?" Handler asked him.
"Hey, I have guns … I've got all kinds of guns, man, fun guns, love guns," Rock joked.
"I went to D.C. There was like, some rally about gun control," he said. "I'm not like a gun ... like, 'Get rid of all the guns,' but I just don't think people should have machine guns in their house."
"So I went down there and I, you know, spoke a little bit about, a little bit on gun control. And then I got all these crazy emails and texts back from people cursing me out on my website, like, ‘I'll kill you! I'll kill you, you bastard, I'll shoot you in the head!' And I was like, ‘You know what? This ain't worth it,'" he said, adding, jokingly, "You need a machine gun to go against the gun people!"
In 2013, Rock joined fellow celebrities such as Tony Bennett and Amanda Peet at a news conference in Washington D.C. to voice support for President Barack Obama's gun control agenda, which called for a ban on semi-automatic weapons and other restrictions.
"I am just here to support the President of the United States," Rock had said at the event. "The President of the United States is, you know, our boss. He's also, you know, the president and the first lady are kinda like the mom and the dad of the country and when your dad says something, you listen."
Watch the video above to find out what Rock aims to do to try to avoid death threats. During his interview with Handler, Rock also switched to a less somber subject: The BET Awards. He poked fun at Pharrell Williams' signature fashion staple and one of Nicki Minaj's most famous...assets. Both are scheduled to perform at the ceremony.