Chris Rock Bashed for 'Tasteless' Whitney Houston Joke

Comedian Chris Rock was bashed for sharing a Whitney Houston meme on his Instagram page Saturday, with some considering it a "tasteless" and "terrible" joke.

The 54-year-old comedian shared a meme with a photo of Houston wearing sunglasses with the caption "Me sitting in a meeting that couldn't been an email."

"Hurry up I got crack to smoke," Rock added to the joke in the caption.

Many of Rock's followers were not laughing though.

"Chris you know better.. you shouldn't speak ill of the dead or make fun of someone's addiction," one person wrote.

"Joke was trash," another added.

"This is how you speak on the dead? Make better content," another fan wrote.

However, some of Rock's famous followers thought it was funny. Octavia Spencer commented with three laughing emojis. Nia Long added, "You are stupid" and a face with tears emoji.

Houston struggled with drug use during her life, and died in 2012 at age 48. She was found dead in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills, where she accidentally drowned. The coroner's report listed heart disease and cocaine as contributing factors. She died the day before the 2012 Grammy Awards, during which Houston was scheduled to perform.

Houston returned to the headlines last week after Robyn Crawford announced she is writing a book about her relationship with Houston titled A Song for You: My Life With Whitney Houston, which will be published on Nov. 5. According to PEOPLE, the book will look at Houston and Crawford's friendship, beginning with their childhood in New Jersey, Houston's rise to game and Houston's marriage to Bobby Brown.

"Since Whitney's death in 2012, [her] trusted and loyal friend, Robyn Crawford, has stayed out of the limelight and held the great joys, wild adventures, and hard truths of her life with Whitney close to her heart," the book's announcement read. Crawford "breaks her silence to share the moving and often complicated story of her life and relationship with Whitney."

"Deeply personal and heartfelt, A Song for You is the vital, honest, and previously untold story that provides an understanding of the complex life of Whitney Houston," the press release teased. "Finally, the person who knew her best sets the record straight."

Crawford has remained silent on her relationship with Houston since her death, even declining to participate in the recent documentary Whitney. It has long been rumored that Crawford and Houston were in a romantic relationship, which Whitney director Kevin Macdonald covered in the film.

Rock is a four-time Emmy winner who was last seen on the big screen in Tyler Perry's Nobody's Fool. He is an executive producer on BET's The Rundown with Robin Thede and released his latest standup special, Tambourine, on Netflix.

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