‘Real World: Seattle’ Alum Irene Tells Fellow Slap Victim Chris Rock: “It Gets Better”

Famous slaps are a funny thing, we don’t easily forget about them. It’s also funny that we don’t tend to take slaps all that seriously as a violent act, despite the fact that they are indeed physical assault. But for some strange reason, a slap stands out so much more than a regular punch; maybe it’s that they just seem more dramatic, and therefore remain more memorable in our consciousness.

Will Smith’s Oscar-night slap will not be soon forgotten. Jack Nicholson slapping Faye Dunaway in the iconic “she’s my sister and my daughter” moment in Chinatown is probably the most famous series of slaps in the movies. And one of the most legendary slaps in reality TV was in the early days of MTV’s The Real World (Seattle flavor), when Irene McGee, who had just disclosed to her castmates that she was suffering from Lyme Disease, decided to leave the confines of their house and move home to deal with her illness. Irene summed up her story concisely in a first-person article in Vulture a few years ago, writing, “In 1998, I was on the receiving end of what many have dubbed ‘The Bitch-Slap Heard Around the World‘ when I was moving out of MTV’s The Real World: Seattle house early in the series’ seventh season.”

Irene had what was at first a nice relationship with her housemate, Stephen, but things soured after he stole a stuffed animal of hers. As she moved out of the house, Irene made what is, in hindsight a cruel and unforgivable comment, outing Stephen (who never publicly declared on the show that he was gay, though he has since) on national television. In return, he followed the car that was carrying Irene away from their shared house, and slapped her square in the face.

Irene, who is now more than 20 years removed from the situation, is a comedian and podcaster, and on her Twitter account today, she offered Chris Rock some words of wisdom from one who knows, “A message to @chrisrock from Irene from Real World Seattle. It gets better.”

At first, the tweet seems kind of glib, but in reading Irene’s account of what happened to her, hers was a situation that was born out of a rude, bad joke made toward someone who responded by fighting back physically, which is precisely what happened to Chris Rock. Stephen, like Will Smith, was not punished nor reprimanded, and was allowed to stay on the show despite physically assaulting someone.

Rock might never see Irene’s tweet, but for members of a certain generation (X), the memory of Irene’s slap came rushing back and all the details were in place. Irene’s tweet was written in a joking tone, but let’s not forget that she was a punchline for as long as MTV aired that clip. A victim of violence was a punchline. Rock might have made a questionable joke, but at least no one is laughing at him now. So maybe in that way, it has gotten a little bit better.