Chris Rock was spotted in public with Simone Henault in March 2026, as photographs showed the comedian and the creative producer leaving a Santa Monica restaurant and later holding hands and kissing in New York City. Neither Rock nor Henault has publicly confirmed a romantic relationship, but the pair’s appearances in Santa Monica and Manhattan have drawn attention to Henault’s profile as a DJ, creative producer and former Google employee.
Photos taken early in March capture Rock and Henault leaving Giorgio Baldi, an upscale Italian restaurant in Santa Monica, Calif., and later walking together in SoHo, where they were photographed kissing and holding hands in a park. The images, circulated by agency photographers, mark one of the first widely published instances of Rock with someone identified as Simone Henault.
Henault’s public profiles and social accounts outline a varied creative career. According to her LinkedIn, she attended St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, from 2009 to 2013 and earned a bachelor’s degree in public relations, advertising and applied communication. Her résumé lists positions as a senior creative producer at 19th & Park Inc., The Fader and Cornerstone Agency before she joined Google in 2021 as a creative producer on the Waze team; her LinkedIn shows she left Google in 2025.
Alongside production work, Henault performs as a DJ and curates music. Her Instagram describes her as a DJ, creative producer and content strategist. She has DJed at members’ clubs including Shoreditch House in London and Soho House in Los Angeles, and shares curated playlists under the Monafide Soul Series on Spotify. In November 2025 she posted about feeling “invigorated and energized” after several sets around Los Angeles and indicated more performances were planned.
Henault signaled a career shift in early 2026, posting on LinkedIn that she was starting “a new chapter” focused on connecting brands, artists and global communities through culture, experience and vision. In that announcement she said she was “open to collaborations, direction projects, cultural advisory, and partnerships in art, music, fashion, wellness, and global lifestyle,” suggesting a move toward freelance and consultancy work after years on teams at agencies and tech companies.
She has also cultivated a writing practice. Henault told followers on Instagram that journaling has been a longtime habit, and she publishes essays on a personal Substack. Her Substack includes a 2024 piece about attending Burning Man for the first time and a January 2026 post reflecting on the “art of the Yearly Recap.” Her social media also features travel photography and posts about packing and routines while on the road.
The sightings add Henault to a short list of public figures linked with Rock in recent years, though the comedian has not commented on the nature of his relationship with her. For Henault, the photographs represent a moment of heightened visibility that converges with her recent professional reorientation and ongoing creative projects.