Chris Rock Reveals He Has COVID, Urges People to ‘Get Vaccinated’

Chris Rock. (AP)
Chris Rock. (AP)
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Chris Rock Reveals He Has COVID, Urges People to ‘Get Vaccinated’

Chris Rock. (AP)
Chris Rock. (AP)

Actor-comedian Chris Rock tweeted Sunday that he has COVID-19. “Trust me, you don’t want this. Get vaccinated,” he urged.

Rock told Jimmy Fallon in May that he had gotten the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, meaning his current case would be a breakthrough instance of coronavirus.

He joked to Fallon, “You know, I skipped the line. I didn’t care. I used my celebrity, Jimmy,” he told Fallon. “I was like, ‘Step aside, Betty White. Step aside, old people. Kiss my ass! I did ‘Pootie Tang.’ Let me on the front of the line.’”

“That’s the food stamps of vaccines,” he joked about the Johnson & Johnson shot. Comparing it to the movie “Titanic,” he said, “I was like Billy Zane on the Titanic. Leo died! Billy Zane lived to see another day. I don’t want to be Leo at the bottom of the ocean. Billy Zane got another woman after that! You don’t want to be Leo. Well, in real life you want to be Leo.”

The actor, 56, recently starred in “Saw” sequel “Spiral” and will appear in David O. Russell’s next movie, a period film which shot in Los Angeles in early 2021. The still-untitled film is set to be released next year.

In a January interview with Gayle King, Rock said “Let me put it this way: Do I take Tylenol when I get a headache? Yes. Do I know what’s in Tylenol? I don’t know what’s in Tylenol, Gayle. I just know my headache’s gone. Do I know what’s in a Big Mac, Gayle? No. I just know it’s delicious.”

While the COVID vaccines do not completely prevent infection, vaccinated individuals have a far greater chance of having milder infections and not requiring hospitalization. Nearly all deaths due to COVID-19 have been in unvaccinated people.



Vienna Chosen to Host Eurovision 2026

The silhouette of a woman riding a bicycle under a refreshing fountain trough the water drizzle is seen in Vienna, Austria, during a heat wave on August 15, 2025. (Photo by Alex HALADA / AFP)
The silhouette of a woman riding a bicycle under a refreshing fountain trough the water drizzle is seen in Vienna, Austria, during a heat wave on August 15, 2025. (Photo by Alex HALADA / AFP)
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Vienna Chosen to Host Eurovision 2026

The silhouette of a woman riding a bicycle under a refreshing fountain trough the water drizzle is seen in Vienna, Austria, during a heat wave on August 15, 2025. (Photo by Alex HALADA / AFP)
The silhouette of a woman riding a bicycle under a refreshing fountain trough the water drizzle is seen in Vienna, Austria, during a heat wave on August 15, 2025. (Photo by Alex HALADA / AFP)

Vienna was chosen on Wednesday to host the Eurovision Song Contest 2026, the world's biggest live televised music event, Austria's public broadcaster announced, with the final set for May 16.

Austria's JJ won this year's competition, held in Basel in Switzerland, with his hit "Wasted Love", which blends techno beats with operatic vocals -- making his home country the 2026 host.

Vienna, which previously hosted the glitzy TV extravaganza in 1967 and 2015, edged out its competitor Innsbruck, the capital of western Tyrol province, to stage next year's contest, public broadcaster ORF announced, according to AFP.

The final of Eurovision's 70th edition will be held on May 16, 2026 at the Wiener Stadthalle, Austria's largest indoor arena, with semi-finals set for May 12 and 14, Eurovision said.

Since its launch in 1955, Eurovision has become the ultimate pop platform, catapulting Swedish icons ABBA to worldwide fame, as well as boosting the likes of Celine Dion, Cliff Richard and Olivia Newton-John.

Some 166 million viewers in 37 countries watched this year's contest, with a record 60 percent of viewers aged 15 to 24 tuning in. The competition got even more views on Instagram and TikTok.