good morning, nick. >> good morning, robin. well, this was one of the most anticipated monologues in decades and history and here and now ready to judge rock on how he handled the oscars so white and the verdict is now in. >> welcome your host, chris rock. >> from the moment he walked on stage. >> this is the wildest, craziest oscars to ever host because we have all this controversy, no black nominees. >> reporter: chris rock commanded that stage and the twitter sphere went into overdrive. that was really incredible, ellen. welp, chris rock murdered #oscars, fellow comedian amy schumer. thumbs up from oprah, now you breathe. >> he made it not just about this year, but every year. >> 88th academy awards, which means this whole no black nominees thing has happened at least 71 other times. >> reporter: after the show we caught up with him at the governors ball. how are you doing, man? >> great, i think. we'll see tomorrow. >> reporter: there were protests from new york to hollywood, reverend al sharpton leading an oscars tune out

nick watt, abc news, los angeles. >>> and we will be watching. the big oscar show airs tomorrow night right here on abc. but we do want to recap that breaking news tonight based on exit poll data, abc abc projects hillary clinton will win the south carolina democratic primary with overwhelming support from african-american voters. thank you for spurnedi ingspend saturday with us. i'm cecilia vega in new york. have a great night. avo: when laquinta.com sends craig wilson a ready for you client: great proposal! let's readytalk more over golf. mes? craig: great. client: how about over tennis craig: even better. avo: a game changer! avo: the ready for you alert, only at laquinta.com.

>> reporter: i'm nick watt for "nightline" in hollywood. >> thank you! >> it was english actor and academy award winner peter yusanov who said, comedy is simply a funny way of being serious. we wish chris rock serious success sunday night. thank you for watching. tune into gma monday morning. as always we're online 24/7 on our "nightline" facebook page and at abcnews.com.

i think that's safe to say and nick watt is here. >> millions of eyes on him, the boycott, jada pinkett smith, will smith, spike lee not coming. chris rock himself has declined, canceled all interviews apart from one and that was before even the nominations came out. we'll show you that in a moment and testing material in comedy clubs but there is no recording, no video of that. all we have so far are some cryptic posts like these. overnight he tweeted this, see you sunday #blackout. previously, getting my outfit together, the space suit referenced to nominee "the martian" maybe and almost showtime with kristen wiig and j.j. abrams, "star wars" in the works? no comments. >> what you can expect from chris rock this oscar sunday is that he is going to go there. >> reporter: we know he will address the oscars so white controversy, not one black acting nominee on twitter saying it's the white b.e.t. awards. >> our host for the evening, chris rock. >> reporter: this was last time he hosted in 2005. >> great night tonight. we have, what, four black nominees tonight. kind of like the def oscar

abc's nick watt explains why. >> he can speak french and russian. he is the most interesting man in the world. >> reporter: but the man who has played him for ten years, jonathan goldsmith, now knee-deep in the most interesting legal battle. >> i prefer dos equis. >> reporter: apparently goldsmith's preference for dos equis intoxicated him into believing he could ignore his promises reads a complaint filed by his manager who is claiming the captivating chap owes him a cut of close to $2 million. in pure money. >> i don't always drink beer. >> reporter: or apparently always pay that manager. he stopped in november 2014. >> his two cents is worth $37 and change. >> reporter: the suit declaring there is nothing interesting about being a deadbeat refers to goldsmith as the least honorable man in the entertainment business. >> the last time he flirted with danger, danger got clingy. >> reporter: goldsmith just countersued his manager. >> my client, i have to tell you, has been in the business over 50 years. he's an honorable man. he's never cheated anyon

nick watt has the story. >> he can speak french and russian. he's the most interesting man in the role. >> reporter: but the man who played him for ten years jonathan goldsmith now knee-deep in the most interesting legal battle. >> i prefer dos equis. >> reporter: apparently goldsmith's preference for dos equis intoxicated him into believing that he could ignore his promises reads a complaint filed by his manager claiming he owes him a cut of close to $2 million in pure money or >> i don't always drink beer -- >> reporter: parentally, always pay that manager he stopped paying in november 2014. >> his two cents is worth $37 and change. >> reporter: the suit declaring there is nothing interesting about being a deadbeat refers to goldsmith as the least honorable man in the entertainment business. >> the last time he flirted with danger, danger got clingy. >> reporter: goldsmith just countersued his manager. >> my client, i have to tell you, has been in the business over 50 years. he's an honorable man. he's never cheated anyone. >> reporter: golds

abc's nick watt is giving us a look inside at the big change and we're "up all nightline." >> reporter: "playboy" is the most famous nudie mag on our planet. hidden in grandpa's closet and cousin billy's high school locker, on newstands around our globe. >> the rabbit head logo is among the three most recognized logos in the world. >> reporter: along with nike swoosh and apple's apple, but "playboy" is with this weekend's revolutionary relaunch, it's a nudie mag. >> the buck stops in my office if it fails. >> reporter: no more. how can that work? what will that look like? well, here's the cover girl. >> have your parents seen this? >> no, but my dad as the first one to be like you better [ expletive ] do "playboy" because he really wanted me to be in it. >> what? why? >> because he -- it's historical. >> reporter: more from her in just a minute. but first -- >> hef's on board with this? >> oh, yeah. >> reporter: okay. this 62-year-old magazine is still owned by the now 89-year-old man. >> he is a man at his leisure. >> reporter: so, why go nonnude? >> we relaunched our website in the a

watch nick watt try to keep the cast in line. >> oh, wait a second. >> reporter: it's an ensemble cast that only the coen brothers could create or control. >> just made the script. >> everybody, eyes on me. ready? at the heart of it george clooney playing a self-centered shallow movie star. how much of a stretch is it to play -- >> an idiot? >> you said it. >> literally every time think call me. hey, we wrote this with you in mind and then i read it and he's an idiot again. >> i would never do that. ah. >> shut up. >> josh brolin is a studio fixer in the tale from hollywood's golden age. >> action. >> i mean it makes you all look like shallow -- >> this goes deep and you better watch yourself here pal. >> reporter: the movie started as a clooney practical joke. >> every time i did an interview the interviewer would say what you're doing and i would say i'm doing "hail, caesar!" with the coen brothers and say, stop say that. we've never written the film. >> we were in an airport. >> right. >> we were both trying to like awkwardly brag to each other. i don't know how to say it but i -- i