Chris Rock Admits He Refused to Fund an Innocent Friend's Defense: "I Had the Means to Help Him, and I Didn't"

Chris Rock is opening up about a decision that still weighs on him. During an appearance on The New York Times’“The Interview,”the comedian revealed that he declined repeated requests to fund the defense of Roger Logan, the brother of a close childhood friend, who spent 19 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. Rock cited his long-standing personal rule against paying for lawyers, but he didn’t hide from the hard truth:“I had the means to help him, and I didn’t.”

Logan was eventually exonerated and received settlements of $3.75 million from New York City and $2.975 million from New York State. But no payout can return nearly two decades of a man’s life. Rock also used the moment to speak about a bigger issue, saying Black men face constant accusations and that“white people believe every accusation is a conviction.”It’s a rare moment of a superstar confronting his own choices in a case that became a symbol of everything wrong with the justice system.

Rock is currently promoting his latest directorial project,“Misty Green,”which hits theaters October 9. The interview, though, is what everyone is talking about right now. So we want to hear from you: if you had the money and a friend’s sibling was wrongly convicted, would you pay for the defense?