Chris Rock once defined a generation – but his shtick has aged poorly | Andrew Lawrence

The comedy legend's cultural and commercial power have waned as he struggles to resist going lowbrow

At this point in his gilded career, Chris Rock doesn't take an Oscars gig for the clout. He takes it for the check. And the 57-year-old funnyman made clear from the moment he took LA's Dolby Theatre stage to present the prize for best feature documentary that he wouldn't be sweating for it.

Rather than launch into a meticulous bit that might remind the world why he was once so big that he hosted this program all by himself twice, he made fun of the crowd - hack moves. He singled out Jada Pinkett Smith, who has alopecia, maligning her with a near 30-year-old movie reference, and everyone in the room laughed on reflex - because he's Chris Rock. For his brief guest spot to end with Will Smith slapping him on live television and then heckling him from a front-row seat in some ways speaks to how much the comedy legend has slipped. (Smith apologized to Rock in an Instagram post on Monday.)