Earlier in the Oscar evening, Regina Hall made a joke about how “Jada said it was okay” if Will Smith joined the other hot guys Regina wanted to “test for Covid” backstage, and I was thinking how strange it was that Will and Jada Pinkett Smith had gone through an entire awards season with people making jokes and asides about their open marriage and “entanglements” and such. I was actually thinking “well, Will and Jada are pretty open about it, maybe they don’t mind the jokes.” Turns out, they did mind some of the jokes. Just not about their marriage.
The joke from Chris Rock was always bad. He made a reference to Jada’s shaved head and said something about how she’s going to star in G.I. Jane 2. Jada has alopecia, a medical condition which involves hair loss, and the camera caught her rolling her eyes at Rock and looking visibly pissed off. A second later, Will walked on stage and smacked Rock with an open palm. Rock was shaken and no one in the audience knew if it was some kind of prearranged gag. That’s when the American broadcast’s audio was muted. What we missed was Rock saying to Will – who went back to his seat – “Will Smith just smacked the sh-t out of me.” Will Smith responded by shouting this twice: “Take my wife’s name out of your f–king mouth.” Rock replied, visibly shaken: “Wow, dude. It was a G.I. Jane joke.” The uncensored video:
I won’t even try to describe how social media lit up and how confusing it must have been in the room. Rock was not seen during the show after that, although Vanity Fair reports that he was backstage, making jokes about how Will channeled Muhammad Ali and “That’s the only time you get hit by Muhammad Ali and it doesn’t leave a scratch.” Sean Combs was the first presenter out after the incident and he went off-script, saying: “I didn’t know that this year was going to be the most exciting Oscars ever! Okay, Will, Chris—we’re going to solve that like family. But right now, we’re moving on with love.”
Reportedly, Rock has refused to press charges against Will for assault, so that answers the question of why Will was not arrested in the theater. The reporters in the Dolby Theater noted how several celebrities buzzed around Will and Jada following the incident. Denzel Washington pulled Will aside and spoke to him at length during the next break. Denzel also went to Jada and spoke to her. Nicole Kidman reportedly went over and gave Will and Jada big hugs. Serena Williams – who was seated separately – posted on her IG Stories that she had to leave the auditorium because she was so shocked. Will’s publicist was also speaking to him at length.
By the time Will won Best Actor, everyone was on edge and feeling pretty raw. Will wept and apologized to the Academy and his fellow nominees. He did not apologize to Chris Rock on stage. He also said: “I know to do what we do, you’ve got to be able to take abuse.You’ve got to be able to have people disrespecting you, and you’ve got to smile and you’ve got to pretend like that’s okay.… I look like the crazy father, just like they said.… Love will make you do crazy things.”
I noted on Twitter that it genuinely felt like Will had more support in the room than Rock. While people were confused by what happened, it didn’t feel like Will was being shunned or what have you. The social commentary though… well, all I’ll say is that multiple things can be true at once and none of those things justify the other, nor are they equal. One, Chris Rock made a joke about Jada which upset her, and he did it during an Oscar telecast with an audience in the tens of millions. It was incredibly rude. Two, Will Smith assaulted a man live at the Oscars and he’s lucky he’s not facing criminal charges.
PS… Jada wore Jean Paul Gaultier, if anyone cares.
Photos courtesy of Getty, Avalon Red.
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- Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith during the live ABC telecast of the 94th Oscars® at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles, CA, on Sunday, March 27, 2022.,Image: 673515557, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Avalon Licensing Ltd. do not claim any Copyright of the attached image WORLD RIGHTS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- Oscar® nominee Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith arrives on the red carpet of the 94th Oscars® at the Dolby Theatre at the Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles, CA, on Sunday, March 27, 2022.,Image: 673541241, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Avalon Licensing Ltd. do not claim any Copyright of the attached image WORLD RIGHTS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
Gosh this really upset me.. why Will? We have been waiting for Will to get an Oscar for years and now its being over shadowed. On a side note these over charismatic,charming people also hurt inside and when they snap its something else.
Well said. That’s what makes this so hard to see. From anyone else, or someone with a poor reputation, it’d be boring. But from a positive ad open guy like Will? I hurt with him for the condition he is in at the moment.
Will is such a sweetheart loved by all, this seems so out of character, so it makes me wonder what is the true relationship between the 3 of them – entanglements maybe? There has to have been some kind of lingering hate between them. I still think that Will was 100% wrong – I disapprove violence and even more in this day and age, in this planet’s situation. His speech I feel was filled with crocodile tears. There were other ways to say what he wanted to say and I hate that the racists will say that once you open the doors to black people and POC that is what they bring in. I am embarrassed for Will and Jada and this has nothing with protecting those you love. It’s about ego. And will has had the people’s favor for too long. My esteem for him has changed.
What I find frustrating, too, is that #kudostochrisrock is trending by right-wingers and bots—folks are using the situation to talk about cancel culture and conservative politics, etc. Rock’s reputation for attacking trans people and becoming a right-wing icon is not a good look, and this adds fuel to the fire. Will was wrong, but I am not a superfan of Rock either….This all makes me cringe.
Ugh. Of course.
Genuine question- what has Chris Rock said about trans people? I hadn’t heard this google isn’t bringing anything up except Dave Chappell stuff.
Chris Rock was WRONG. It is NEVER funny to attack/Joke about anybody’s physical appearance. Let’s switch this up a little bit. Let’s say Jada had gained 30 lbs and Chris made a joke like, “Hey Jada the NFL is missing one of its blimps”. Would that be funny? Do you think Will would have the right to defend the honor of his wife for that? I see no differences in the jokes. Chris went below the belt with a personal attack about Jada’s hair. The look of complete embarrassment on her face as the audience (her peers) laughed at her was heart breaking. I’m sure when Will saw the hurt in the eyes of his wife his only thought was to defend her and keep her safe. So, I would ask everyone to consider that for a moment. Also, why was Chris Rock telling a joke? He was Presenter not a Host. His job was to read the tele-a-promoter like everyone else before him. Also why doesn’t the Oscars have a 2 min delay for a live recording?
Chris Rock’s joke was out of line but Will Smith was 100% WRONG. You dont assault someone for a joke, and you don’t assault someone on national tv like that. he was wrong.
I guess no one has heard of this : “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words shall never hurt me” So what if Chris Rock is wrong, rude & offensive? It doesn’t mean he should be slapped. Holy f*ck.
We’ve all heard that old saying, Purple. It’s just that most of us learned at a very young age that nothing could be further from the truth. We learned it the hard way.
Will Smith saw Kanye West and one-upped him. These is simply no excuse for Smith’s behavior.
There are times in your life when you will fight for what you love and hold dear. I believe Will acted on pure emotions, seeing his wife in distress. He was in the moment. Very few men will watch another man insult his wife and watch her struggle and just sit and smile.
Part of the issue is that its not even about Chris Rock’s joke anymore. It’s about Will’s actions. If Will wanted to condemn Chris Rock for his comment/joke about Jada, storming on stage and hitting him was not the way to do it. Will could have used his acceptance speech to address it, or he could have issued a statement today, etc.
Paula, yeah not every man is Ted Cruz!
Chris Rock’s job as host was to tell jokes. Hosts are expected to go off script and ad lib. His joke(s) may have been in poor taste, but it was 100% wrong of Will Smith to assault him over one of them.
@Becks1: I get your prospective we just disagree. It should be about the humiliation that Chris caused Jada FIRST. Will defended his wife.
While we’re on the sayings, two wrongs don’t make a right.
Yes, Rock shouldn’t have made that joke. But Will’s reaction made the whole thing ten times worse. Would anyone be remembering that crap joke today if it had been ignored? I doubt it. But now? Now it is and will remain famous. Jada’s alopecia and distress are now famous. Will’s loss of control – not just in the punch but the swearing and shouting afterwards – are now famous. Like, way to make the whole thing ten times worse and overshadow Smith’s own Oscar win. What a mess. And Smith’s total loss of control was also deeply disturbing. I’m not surprised Serena had to leave.
I hope he calls out all those who were laughing at his wife aswell
We can use our words to defend our loved ones..we don’t need to use our fists, hands, etc. Creating a scene like Will Smith overshadowed his Oscar win.
They’re both in the wrong, as far as I’m concerned. I am firmly in the camp of ‘violence is never the answer’ but that doesn’t mean Chris Rock’s joke was excusable.
@Purplehazeforever, that saying is so old and outdated and we know better now, and coming from someone who has been verbally and emotionally abused for years I KNOW it’s not true. Words do hurt us, words are incredibly damaging in so many ways. Words damage your soul, your heart, your self esteem, and they can leave lasting scars.
I’m not excusing Will’s behavior because physical assault isn’t ok either, but making fun of a black woman’s hair or lack thereof on tv then gaslighting her and saying “it’s just a joke” was just as disgusting to watch. They were both wrong. Will list control of himself and I hate that.
“Defending his wife” is if she is physically attacked and unable to defend herself. If you respect your wife as an equal then you let her defend herself in a verbal situation unless she asks for your help.
I mean, is it a joke when you say something that you know is going to hurt someone’s feelings? That is the classic bully line, “I was just JOKING.’ It is similar to how I see the Drake “assault”. play stupid games, win stupid prizes. I am shocked that this happened in such a public way and I am sure Will is going through it right now. Ugh. That just broke my heart. He wasn’t reacting to a ‘joke’ he was reacting to someone being mean about something his very public wife has very publicly said is super hard for her.
@Jessica…I know the saying is old & outdated, I was taught it in response to being bullied at school & abused at home because I started getting in fights. It was a way to say to me to use my words instead of fists…weird but true. Too many people are excusing Will for slapping Chris Rock saying Chris made a rude, offensive joke & he deserved it. Saying Will did it out of live. That’s triggering for victims of domestic violence. They hear this language from their abusers all the time. There’s no excuse for this behavior. I know you’re not condoning Will’s actions, I just didn’t think I needed to explain why I needed to write something.
As others have said, words DO hurt. I was emotionally, verbally, AND physically abused by the same person and it’s the emotional and mental damage that as lingered most, not the physical after-effects.
That being said, Smith was 100% wrong. It’s upsetting that his own temper ruined the biggest night of his career, yes, and I did not find Rock’s “joke” funny at all, but that does not justify lashing out as Smith did.
He had to stand up, walk to the stage, climb the steps, and cross to Rock. There was time to reconsider his actions. He chose to follow through and he deserves the fallout he hopefully will receive from this disaster.
Ideally, we’d see Rock face some negative effects himself, but I won’t hold my breath.
Chris Rock punched down with that joke. It wasn’t funny, it was cruel. Will experienced primal, human emotions, which I think we can all relate to on some level. But he lost his cool on live TV. He could have stood up and walked out. That would have been a powerful message. There were kids watching from home too. He set a bad example for them, and he involved all of us in something that we had no choice in witnessing. His anger may have been righteous, his lack of control over his emotions and his ensuing behavior was just sad.
I am appalled that anyone thinks what Will Smith did was OK. It is never OK to lay your hand on someone else for a damn stupid joke. Do we now slap and punch any comedian who we deem insulting? I’m sorry for Jada having to deal with Alopecia. Watching one of my best friends deal with alopecia, I understand how horrible that is. But it is still NO excuse to violently attack someone for a joke. And it is not “manly” to defend your wife’s honor by physically attacking someone for an insult. It’s also the height of hypocrisy that Will got a standing ovation because he claimed he “was called on to spread love.” Really? Now that’s a good joke.
I might have more sympathy for Will if he had not LAUGHED at the joke himself before slapping Chris. If you seek out the vides, you see Will laugh, then look at Jada and THEN go slap Chris.
Slapping him was just the wrong move in any case. And I don’t think the “joke” was funny at all. Never mind that it was a low blow to someone’s appearance that they can’t help, but it was not even a good joke BEYOND that. But Will *laughed*, and that makes it really hard for me to put myself in his shoes.
That’s what I didn’t understand @turtledove. In the video, he laughs at the joke, so his subsequent actions seem very off. But I wonder if it’s one of those things, where in the moment, you’re not really paying attention, just mimicking the reactions of those around you, but then you actually process what was said.
And now Jada has material for Red Table. Will was an ass.
Sorry but GI Jane was hot. It was not a diss. Will seemed like an abused man to me. He laughed at the joke at first, then saw Jada was upset, then went way overboard to show her he was mad. Maybe going on her show and hearing her say all the things she didn’t like about him and how that led to her entanglement cut him deeper than he wants to admit.
I would feel differently about this if Jada had slapped Rock or even yelled from the table. I’m so over men’s defending women’s honor.
Yes. I would ask those who are rushing to pass judgment on Will to please pause for a moment and think about this country and the context for Black women here (Black specifically, not POC generally, not WOC generally). Almost no one EVER defends Black women. Pause and listen to what Black women are saying about this.
Please pause before rushing to paint Will as associated with domestic violence or commenting that he should be arrested or should be in jail). Our police / carceral system IS violence against Black bodies and that is not the answer. There is a reason P. Diddy said right after that it would be handled as a family with love (meaning not by the police).
I think both of them were 100 percent wrong. It’s not ok to hit someone and it’s not ok to joke about someone’s hair. We don’t have to pick a side.
Yeah, that argument would work, except for the joke was part of the script, and Will and Jada had no problem with it during rehearsals. King Will could have thrown his bitch fit to the producers and had the joke pulled WAAAAY before it ever went public.
And why would Chris Rock be invited, other than to poke fun? Right, wrong, or indifferent it is his JOB. He got assaulted for doing his JOB.
@Jessica: I completely agree with you. No one condones slapping another person but Chris Rock knew exactly what he was saying, and it wasn’t just a joke about J.I. Jane it was a joke about Jada’s hair/alopecia. I’m sure it was difficult enough for her to go public with it. For heaven’s sake, Chris Rock made a whole documentary about hair, if I recall.
As for those who are lamenting the fact that W. Smith’s actions may now give the racists ammunition. Well, a few weeks ago, Venus and Serena were just sitting and minding their own business when Jane Campion attempted to demean their life’s work and efforts. So, it seems that the racists don’t really need much encouragement to go after Black people and they continue regardless of Will. Speaking of racists: That’s the fastest I’ve ever known the LAPD to respond to an assault on a Black man. To those who are claiming that they are now “toxic” as a result of this – Ha! This includes Morning Joe’s Mika Breszinski who insists that Jada can fight her own battles. Really, because when Trump made a rude remark about Mida’s facelift, her husband Joe jumped to her defense and Mika never said a word about Girl Power then, she just played the damsel.
Even if Chris Rock wasn’t aware of Jada’s medical condition, mocking a black woman’s hair is pretty low. AND he produced a film on that exact topic — “Good Hair”. Both of them acted badly. So sorry Will stepped on his own Oscar moment. I see a visit to Uncle Phil and Aunt Viv in his future.
Will was NOT “justified” in hitting Chris, no matter how tasteless the joke was. What if Amy Schumer made such a horrible joke, would it be “ok” for Will to smack HER in the face? Of course not. Will is very lucky he wasn’t arrested.
Paulah, I’m morbidly obese. I’ve had jokes made at me and about me, to my face, in front of my friends, my WHOLE LIFE! Will needs to grow up. Of course the joke was awful. But HE is truly gross. What he did to the Williams sisters /family is not cool either.. Sick of Will getting a pass. Defending honour is absurd. He’s a comedian. If I hit every person who made fun of me I’d never be out of jail.
Um no. Comedians joke, it’s what they do. And when you are famous and in the public eye, you don’t get to choose what people say about you. It comes WITH THE TERRITORY. Jada was upset, sure, fine, but Will just looked narcissistic and insane. Chris Rock is totally in the right, especially since he had the class and cool head to not hit back.
Layla, Will was laughing until he turned around and caught a look from Jada.
Yes, people keep referring to this as a joke, but just because he is a comedian and hosting a show, doesn’t make this a joke. This definitely veered into the bullying category. How often do hosts get away with commenting on an audience member’s sickness? She is very vocal on social media about her condition, and he knew of it, guaranteed.
TurtleDove and NorthofBoston,
This is sort of where I’m at too. He laughed at the joke. And he looked like he was pretty genuinely relaxed and having a good time while he was laughing. Then he saw his wife was upset at the joke, and I think—especially with the context of the constant criticism of their marriage and how they’re a “toxic” couple or whatever, with jokes about their marriage having been made at every awards show including previously that night at this awards show—that he was probably also mad about the fact that Chris Rock “made him” look like he doesn’t support his wife. Like a “you made me laugh at my wife, and that makes me look like a bad, disconnected husband. It makes it look like there *are* cracks in our marriage and like we’re *not* actually on the same page.” Slap. I think he overreacted to some feelings of being disappointed *in himself* and mad *at himself* and decided that he needed to quickly make a big show of how much he supports his wife and has her back because their marriage is good, and strong, and they are connected, and they’re not toxic together, and they do support each other, and they are on the same page, etc.
Im just trying to imagine what went through his mind when he was laughing, then looked at his wife, and she was all “Really? That was a hurtful low blow.” I bet he felt embarrassed and I don’t think he likes feeling embarrassed.
In his acceptance speech, Will talked about how in the industry, he had to laugh and play along with whatever. I’m assuming that means he laughed in that moment because he was playing a part, not because he found it funny.
*Everyone* was laughing… it was jokes — until that happened and peopel STILL laughed at it, because everyone was totally confused. I’m sure it took 2 seconds to decipher the joke and then Will took another 2 seconds to get mad before he stopped smiling.
Exactly. Will made two giant errors.
This explains how I feel about this. Well said.
Wills east going m, happy go lucky persona has always been fake (in my opnion) what I saw was two people (will and jada) so self absorbed and arrogant as to assume that everyone knows that Jada has alopecia. Not everyone- especially not every celebrity is out there streaming every addition to Table talk and reading articles about them… was Chris Rock wrong for the Joke? I don’t know. It wasn’t a great joke- it was a cheap shot. It wasn’t that funny. But getting in stage and slapping the guy and then swearing in the audience- it seems like will wasn’t in his right mind. We don’t know that Rock even knew she had issues with her hair. That’s a huge leap.
I honestly had no idea Jada Pinkett had alopecia and I know I am not alone in this camp.
And I have read (not really sure if its true) that Jada shaves her hair because a part of her head hair fell out, which means that she has alopecia but she also has a hair cut similar to Demi Moore character in the movie GI. So, I am no fan of Chris Rock by any means and his joke was in poor test, but that was absolutely no excuse for Will Smith to violently attach someone like that. And the “if roles were reversed and Jada was over weight” etc doesn’t apply here. What applies if if Will Smith made a bad joke about Chris Rock wife or anyone person in particular (which he has done countlkess times) would people have got up and slapped him? Answer is no; because Will Smith has made a lot of very nasty jokes about others and he’s never been attacked like that. Nothing Chris Rock said excuses Will Smith’s violence.
I didn’t know she had alopecia, either. Now I will never forget. It would have been waaay better for Will and Jada to make a statement today or in follow up interviews about how that joke hurt. Even bring some attention and research money to the condition.
One reason why I can’t stand so many comedians is their act is all about insulting other people. (Does anyone remember Don Rickles? That was his entire schtick.) I’m not into it AT ALL, but that’s what Chris Rock is famous for. Ditto for Amy Schumer, who insulted audience members during her opening monologue. If you hire a comedian like that, you are going to get insults. No one likes to be the brunt, but you kind of expect it and hope it won’t be you.
“Defending his wife’s honor” is a weak, outdated excuse for slapping a guy in the face and cussing him out on live TV. Will was stressed out about the award and he lost his sh*t. Now it’s too late to take it back. What a debacle.
I agree @BabsORIG I didnt know about Jada’s alopecia and Chris might not have known either – the joke to me sounded pretty harmless and it wasnt even a funny joke regardless of Jada medical condition. To just the regular viewer Will’s reaction is WACK and that’s why I’m questioning if there’s more to this triangle that we dont know about? My mom always said if you’re about to do something and dont want on the front page of the newspaper tomorrow is because it is wrong. This was definitely wrong from Will. I’m on no team today. All looked stupid, the situation made me cringe with embarrassment and think about all the times in high school we should have taken the high road but instead made fools out of ourselves.
I think he has an autobiography or a biography he gave his blessing, I forget which.
If you read it this reaction makes a lot more sense. His good guy thing is an interesting cover but that book he really seems to out himself as the same kind of psycho it takes to make it in the entertainment business.
I didn’t know she has alopecia, as I don’t really follow her, but either way, Rock should never have joked about her appearance in any way. So rude. But I still can’t believe Will did what he did. It was just so crazy, it really did seem staged at first. He had every right to be angry, but that is now how you handle it.
@TeamMeg – I don’t like humiliation jokes, either. I’ve seen Oscar hosts (and hosts of other award shows) make jokes at people’s expense for years – jokes about their drug or alcohol addictions, about their marriages, about their sex lives, etc. Everyone has to sit there and grin and act like a good sport because they want the camera on them. It’s part of the process – ritual humiliation, then an award and then an ovation. Personally, I’d be more inclined to slap the producers.
Maám, when was the last time a white woman’s appearance was made of on such a platform? As a black South African, I’m tired of these American black men always having something slick about black women’s appearance. TIRED!
Well there was that while Seth Macfarlane song ‘we saw your boobs’
It doesn’t really matter if she had alopecia. They both need to grow up and be adults for once. No adult should ever react that way. Why is everyone defending these low lifes? Just because they’re famous doesn’t mean they get to do whatever they want.
That’s the thing I keep coming back to. He waited so long for this moment. I remember how much he wanted the Oscar for Ali. And he’d been winning every award all season, they placed him and Jada front and center because they knew he’d win.
And he just went off and ruined his own coronation. I’m still so shocked about it.
This is exactly where I am. I was watching live, and I just…stopped. I could not believe my eyes, this was a moment Will Smith has waited for a long time, why this night?
It’s going to be in every article about him, for the rest of his life, the same way Kanye is going to haunt Taylor Swift forever, from beyond the grave even. Reporters are always going to be finding a way to ask questions he will actually answer. Will Smith was set to have a truly amazing night, probably one of the best of his life, and a joke (albeit, a really distasteful joke) has changed everything.
He could have just fumed from the audience and wrote an op ed piece that every paper in the country would have featured, about awareness and empathy for something a lot of people have never heard of. Instead, he chose spectacle, and I just don’t get it.
Society would be better served if it focussed more on condemning these ‘jokes’ in the first place, rather than the violent reaction it elicits. Victims are always called on to take the high road. How ’bout you stop forcing us there in the first place?
A WORD!
Society would be much better off with out these IDIOTS….. WE NEED TO DROP A BOMB ON HOLLYWEIRD. THEY HAVE BEEN A CANCER ON THE WORLD FOR 50 years. and willie boy NEEDS to go to County jail….
@Noki … Evidently, Jada has shaved her head due to a medical condition (alopecia, I think?). Perhaps her medical condition is more serious than they’re saying and has Will on edge. However, nothing excuses violence.
I’m a pacifist, but I would have don’t worse to Chris Rock. My niece is struggling with alopecia and needs to make the decision to go bald. She cries very single day because she fear losing her womanhood (especially for a black woman.} Jada and Representative Ayala pictures were among the pictures we shown to encourage her. We all don’t know what struggles Jada had with finally letting go of her hair, and how her families suffered with her. When I put my cousin in Jada’s spot I understands Will Smith action. I suppose this makes me an hypocrite.
So, not only did Smith pull focus from his own award, he pulled it from the Williams sisters, CODA, Troy Kotsur and deaf actors, Ariana DeBose as the first openly queer winner, Kenneth Branagh winning and being the first person to be nominated in 7 separate categories, all the other winners and nominees would should have had their night. So, there’s that.
Questlove had won and it was completely overshadowed. I felt second hand embarrassment.
My heart broke for Questlove his moment was ruined. And GI Jane was/is hot, but no one should joke about anyone’s appearance hopefully comics will learn from this it is just not funny.
His acceptance speech was the last honest, good moment of the Oscars. I feel for him.
I don’t even remember Questlove winning. Like when I saw these comments I thought “oh yeah” and I went and looked up his speech, but The Slap sort of killed everything that happened afterwards because that’s what anyone who was watching was thinking about, the audience was rattled, etc.
Im not sure if anyone has already said this, because I have been able to get through all the comment. WILL WAS WRONG. But, and there is a bit, Chris Rock has always been problematic when it comes to black women’s hair. He had a whole generation of white people thinking Black women’s hair can’t grow, and if you see a black woman with “nice hair” then it has to be a wig or weave. He had people thinking black women rarely/never wash their hair. CHRIS ROCK IS PROBLEMATIC.
Having said that, Will needed better self control. Physical assault is not the answer.
How often do hosts make jokes about audience members’ sickness (and specifically a black woman’s hair)? Rock knew she had this issue—she is very vocal on social media about her hair loss struggles. It really is the lowest common denominator joke and literally picking on one of the most marginalized populations.
They’re both wrong, and Will overshadowed alot of folks’ moments, but big fuck you to Rock.
This isn’t entirely fair- he also did a whole documentary on Black hair that explored the beauty of Black hair
Yes, EDI, Rock did a documentary on hair, but that doesn’t mean Rock didn’t try and normalize making fun of illness or sickness. When is a joke also bullying? Smith exhibited toxic masculinity at not Rock’s joke but Rock’s bullying.
regarding Chris Rock – I do not excuse his bad punchline. It isn’t kind to be up stage and make of someone (however this is how many male comedians have made their living for decades so this isn’t just a Chris Rock problem).
If Jada didn’t have Alopecia the joke would read differently, and it could be a nod to choosing a hairstyle that throws back to a strong character. Demi came to the Oscars with her head shaved. Knowing it is alopecia makes the punchline potentially hurtful. There is a lot of nuance there and the knowledge one has informs the interpretation. Chris Rock has shared that he was recently diagnosed with Nonverbal Learning Disorder, which means he struggles to read and interpret social norms to the same degree others do. He also has a disorder. He should run his jokes by someone who can read the potential for problems but again, if people around him didn’t know about Jada’s alopecia no one may have caught why it could be problematic.
That’s what upset me about it. Not Rock getting smacked, though of course I thought that was inexcusable on Smith’s part. But making everything about himself, not being able to control his temper like an adult, and one who is used to being in the spotlight. He stole the moment from a lot of people, not just himself.
Yeah, I loved that documentary, Summer of Soul, and Will Smith flipping out completely ruined the moment for the filmmakers. Crazy behavior (and they’re into Scientology so not a fan).
Two of my old homies from the neighborhood I grew up in were part of the Summer of Soul production team. We were so excited and proud for them when Questlove won. And then this ish pushed it all to the back burner. Infuriating, to say the least.
And Liza Minnelli’s moment. I’m not nearly as disabled as her, but my disabilities do tend to make socialising very difficult. It can take all you have and as much lead time as possible just to go have fast food with a friend. The operation to get her there has to have been massive. I saw the joy on her face as she was on stage once more. I recognised it as my own when I manage to finally get out after having turned down invites for weeks. Seeing Lady Gaga have her back while she presented was even better. Why is this not a headline or something we’re talking about? I hadn’t known anything about the segment until a friend posted the video on FB this evening.
Lady Gaga is a class act. Her kindness, patience and sensitivity to Minelli’s situation were exemplary.
It looks like Will is laughing at the joke at first. This is so weird. And Never ok to hit anyone over a joke like that. If staged: even more weird.
They should have kicked out Will immediately. Weird they let him stay after the assault
A racial divide seems to be forming around this incident.
Whites see it as a cut-and-dry assault.
For blacks the issue is more loaded. There is a history of Black male comedians making black women the focal point of very crass humor. Recently there has been criticism of the proliferation of black men in drag cosplaying black women for cheap laughs. It gets tricky when they are doing this for the entertainment of predominantly white audiences. Black women who are tired of being flagrantly disrespected by black male comedians are respecting Will for very publicly defending his wife.
That Chris was mocking Jada’s hair — something for which black women have historically faced discrimination — just compounded the negative feelings.
Chris Rock’s history of attacking Jada made Will’s actions appear more chivalrous to some.
Taking race out of the issue mocking womens appearances in general is in poor taste. Many feel that Black comedians are more liberal in mocking black womens appearances than they are with white women. It plays into the general feeling that black women face harsher critique by society in general ( see Meghan Markle).
Keep all of this in mind when you see Will getting support in the black community. People aren’t necessarily condoning assault — they just get where Will may be coming from.
And they clapped him
I couldn’t believe the applause he got. I recoil at sudden unexpected violence, it’s ugly and scary. I’ve seen it happen too often, not to me, but to others.
But minx what about the violence done to women through degrading words? Constantly.
@Aurora: I just made a similar comment above, but I didn’t focus on race. I would only hope people could take a step back an imagine being the brunt of a joke based on your physical appearance on National TV. I don’t think anyone would like that I hope if it ever happened to you that you would have a husband like Will Smith that would be willing to defend your honor.
Disagree, @Aurora.
Strongly.
As a WOC, I was horrified. Am horrified. And embarrassed.
Violence is never the answer.
Let’s not talk as if the Black community is some monolithic entity which supports smacking others when insulted.
There are ways to handle oneself.
Ways to defend that don’t involve fists.
Will was out of his d*mn mind.
Pass Mary the smelling salts
Just imagine if this had happened at one of your work functions. He would have been handcuffed and fired so fast. Just because it’s a “show” to us at home doesn’t change the fact that he was in a professional environment and acted terribly
@PaulaH why don’t you try listening to women of color instead of dismissing their viewpoint out of hand?
@PaulaH, yours isn’t the only valid opinion, Mary’s is too, and all opinions deserve respect. I am a POC, African woman to be specific, I have very thin hair that never grows beyond my nape even after putting straightners in it so I fully understand how it feels to not have the long laxurious hair some poeple have. But I was trained by my mother (and I’ve trained my children the same way) violence is never the answer. Yes words do hurt, but still Will Smith should have walked away from this situation. You don’t have to fight to be a man, you don’t have to violently assault a man to show your love for your wife. I am sure if Will Smith had made this joke and Chris Rock assaulted him people would’nt have been this understanding.
Sorry, violence is never the answer. I thought Jada was a feminist -a strong black woman. She never struck me as the type to need someone to fight her battles. This incident has damaged the Academy Awards cache- money is made on the winning films post ceremony. We will see how this plays out. If all of a sudden there are revelations with receipts about Will Smith- you’ll know the money guys have abandoned him. I can’t help but remember the woman who played his Mother on the Fresh Prince who said he made her life unbearable on set. I guess he’s not the man I thought he was.
@ Aurora – thank you for this nuanced comment. This isn’t such a binary situation. I would also add that Will has maybe seen first-hand just how much his wife has been struggling. Not that it excuses the slap, but to use words like “violence” and “assault” and to be so up in arms focusing on just that piece and not the history of abuse BLACK WOMEN have dealt with (verbal/mental/emotional) just makes me feel icky. I gotta get off this thread.
Yes @Poisonella, Janet Hubert comes to mind
it wasn’t staged.
Thank you. I don’t know how anyone could think it was, it was mortifying and disturbing.
We can’t justify his behavior. He ruined not only his moment but everybody’s else moment. Nobody is talking about the progress that was made last night. First openly queer afro latina won! First deaf actor! I saw two latin songs during the show and never felt more proud of my community.
He not only slapped Chris Rock , he slapped all minorities who are fighting against racial stereotypes every damn day. Chris Rock joke wasn’t funny and pretty sure if Will didn’t slap nobody would’ve remembered it because it was just another stupid Chris Rock joke.
Agree 💯
I think Will laughed to seem like a good sport, then saw his wife was not OK about it and the anger welled up. Assault is not OK, but Chris Rock made a shitty joke. And he should have known better. He made a whole documentary about black women and their hair.
There are no buts here. Will Smith assaulted a man on live TV. If he was angry he should have spoken to Rock after the show and asked him to apologize.
Will must’ve known that he was going to win the Oscar, and he could have used that platform to speak about alopecia and how devastating it is, and he could have made a comment that was thoughtful about how hurtful those jokes are to people who are suffering from various illnesses. Even if he didn’t win the Oscar he could have made a statement after the show. He didn’t even take a minute to sit and think about what he was doing. He simply reacted. He’s waited his entire career to get to this point and he ruined it, not just for himself, but for other people. This was completely the wrong way to deal with this. If he really still needed to do something in that moment, he could have even gone up on the stage like he did, but instead of hitting Chris Rock, he could have made a comment about alopecia and how devastating it is to those that suffer from it. The whole thing is gross, from the joke about somebody who has an illness that they have no control over, to how Will didn’t even take a second to consider what he was doing and how it would affect him and others.
no one is saying that it was the right response. what people are talking about are the reasons behind why Will lost his shite.
I read an article in the Guardian that referenced his childhood experience of watching his father striking and bullying his mother and being too afraid to stand up to him. this situation definitely echoes that.
reasons are not excuses and I do not see anyone excusing it.
also, whoever said that this is the fastest time in history that the LAPD responded to a Black man being assaulted… you got that right.
Catlady, word. Let’s not pretend like the Smiths haven’t been dogged by gossip for decades. Personally, the decades where it has been inferred he and Jada are closet Scientologists are much more inflammatory.
He is a media savvy man, and he knew how this was always going to play out. I will never understand the why. This is far less offensive than the years of speculation about their marriage, or the sexuality of their kids, or why they let their kids do [insert tabloid bullshit here].
This wasn’t a moment of chivalry, a moment of chivalry would have been using his acceptance speech to shame Chris Rock for being insensitive and inappropriate.
Honestly, I am still processing the original Aunt Viv forgiving him for being horrible to her. Being pissed about Jada’s hair after laughing at the joke looks like a stunt.
Especially in a room filled with equally rich people. It looks like a SNL skit, that went very wrong.
As someone who was bullied in HS, I can tell you sometimes you laugh as an auto-response. But inside your mind is whirling trying to make sense, and you stop laughing. Fast. Also, I don’t think he should have been arrested. Every once in a while a man needs a good smackdown, I’m sorry but that’s how I feel. And Rock’s joke was incredibly cruel. I know people will say differently, but I won’t change my mind about this. Rock had it coming.
PS – if someone had smacked what’s that idiot’s name? The one who sang a song about all of the female Oscar attendee’s breasts he had seen? That white comedian? If someone had gotten up and smacked him that year, maybe some lessons would have been learned then. God knows some lessons need to be taught.
Agreed Trina.
Agree, Trina.
Now some people might think a little harder about their ‘jokes’ before unleashing them, a la Jane Campion’s CC award speech. She stuck to the script this time, I noticed lol. Keep women’s appearance and achievements out of your mouths. These ‘jokes’ have gotten so old…time to turn the page. If Will had to be the one to make an ass of himself in the cause, I’m sure his career will survive the blow.
I completely agree with you. So much sh*t has been talked about Jada and Will recently, this was probably the last straw. Guess I’m in the minority here, but I would want my husband to defend me like this. Good for him.
I brought up this song as an example on another forum and got torn apart about how its not the same but yes it is. Its disrespectful to women. Jada has been open about her hair. her head has been shaved for a long time. Its not some new open wound.
People adding “but” are gross.
I agree as well. Rock was cruel here.
If one good thing comes out of it perhaps more people will be aware of alopecia. I had always thought it was a style choice of Jada’s. I had not realized it was a medical condition.
Trina, I was thinking about that particular “musical number” when I read this post. The women targeted by it were supposed to chuckle and suck it up; likewise Halle Berry when Adrian Brody assaulted her I do not advocate violence of any sort, but part of me thinks that if Halle and the other targeted women had done a Will Smith, it would have been freaking awesome, but I doubt they would have been permitted to stay in the auditorium, let alone been applauded.
Great point, @Trina.
Oh whatever. It wasn’t an auto-response. He thought it was funny, and he doesn’t respect her either. It was only after he saw her face that he felt obligated to do something, and it happened to be a stupid thing.
There may be old beef with Chris Rock. Remember #OscarsSoWhite way back when and Will & Jada were asking everyone to boycott? Rock hosted, he didn’t boycott. So strike one. Then he made a joke, the gist of it was that it’s not really a boycott if you weren’t in a movie and didn’t get an invite. So strike 2.
Venus and Serena and all the nominees did not deserve this.
No, they didn’t. And there were some amazing stories from last night. I wonder why they weren’t seated together at a “King Richard” table?
He sure didn’t hit Regina Hall for making a joke about their swinging or open marriage or whatever it was that she said.
It was not ok for Will to hit Rock but i read a part of Will Smith’s book in which he describes growing up with an abusive father who hit his mom, and how he wanted to protect his mom and he was too scared. And then later how he vowed to protect his mom in the future. I think the event triggered him and childhood traumas. I felt like he was reacting from a deep hurt place, and while it’s again not ok, I felt compassion for him too. A reminder for all of us to heal our childhood wounds.
^^ You are right @Truthiness about that past abusive history Rock has for negatively going after Jada, and also hating on Will in a jealous manner! I noticed only one media outlet that mentioned the 2016 Oscar situation.
I think his initial reaction is key here. He laughed at the joke… and then he saw Jada’s face. IMO that’s why he went over the top and slapped Rock; it was overcompensating for his own initial laughter. In a fairly recent article, they shared an anecdote about how for one of Jada’s birthdays, Will tracked down the white family that enslaved her ancestors and put on a whole presentation during her party. She was pissed because he managed to make her big birthday all about himself and what he had done for her, something that she didn’t even want. This has that same performative vibe to me, but at the same time Rock has a history of going after Jada. He roasted her in 2016 when she boycotted for #OscarsSoWhite, and the amount of ribbing and roasting she gets is totally out of line, so maybe this was just the boiling point.
To me, the worst part is that Will pulled focus from Questlove, he used Venus & Serena’s dad as some sort of totem in his “apology” and overshadowed his own accomplishment, and they all deserved better. The comms person in me wishes that he had just sat down and then made a pointed comment in his acceptance speech, which would have made Rock look like an a*hole and kept Will’s hands clean.
To be clear, Chris Rock sucks. He has a history of awful, punch-down bad politics and hot takes, and many Black women have said that his Good Hair documentary is problematic (at best). Do you think Rock would care about a think piece or an op ed or a hashtag days after the joke? I don’t. I don’t think Will should’ve slapped him for a variety of reasons, but maybe that was the only way he had a chance of getting through to someone like Rock. He can ignore a think piece, he can shrug off an “I’m disappointed in your behavior” speech, but he can’t ignore getting smacked on live tv. I’m not saying it’s right, but it might not be all wrong either? Idk this is just a mess. I’m team Jada and team Williams’ sisters, which might be 2 opposite sides, which makes this even messier.
Everybody Knows in the industry that Chris Rock’s ego is as big as Central America. In a nutshell I agree with you, though I do not condone violence Chris Rock could never have gotten the extent of his bullying of black women, and more specifically of Jada, without an extreme act.
“I think his initial reaction is key here. He laughed at the joke… and then he saw Jada’s face. IMO that’s why he went over the top and slapped Rock; it was overcompensating for his own initial laughter.”
This is exactly it. He saw how deep it cut her and he had laughed at the joke. He was angry with himself and Chris Rock was on the receiving end of him trying to make it right to Jada.
@Sunday – That’s been bugging me since the third or fourth viewing of the uncensored video. I think there’s a possibility that Will reacted to cover for the fact that cameras caught him laughing while his wife was visibly upset, and he overcompensated with toxic masculinity. The worst part is if he had just waited for his win, he could have overcompensated by gushing about his love for Jada and how he’ll do anything to support her. Instead, he then had to go cry on stage and make all sorts of thinly veiled references to Chris Rock, who he had *just* assaulted. The whole thing was insane.
Yeah, he made it all about himself. The thing is that Will and Jada have so much more power in the industry than Chris Rock and, especially given that Will is an Academy Award winner, he coulda got Rock’s ass cancelled. I have no issue with Rock facing consequences, but getting slapped wasn’t the answer. Will could have made sure Rock would never be invited at the AA again (it’s not like his acting would get him nominated anyway). But Will’s whole “keep MY wife’s name out of your f* mouth/Love makes you do crazy things” felt selfish and so incredibly toxic.
I am so sad this happened. I can understand a joke like that being really upsetting and hurtful. But I cannot understand why he allowed his night of triumph to take this turn. His performance in the film was amazing. His performance at the Oscar’s was a failure .
Seeing the look on his face after he sat down… he was just mentally done with taking shit. I think the marriage stuff probably does bother him, along with a lot of other things and being famous and having people rag on your family all the time probably gets to him. I think this wasn’t just a joke but years of having to hold it in and smile.
I think most people who have been in that situation, that emotional burden of having to take it a lot of abuse can recognize what happened. I’m not talking about the violence (and I do not in any way think violence is OK) but that moment when you can’t keep the mask on anymore.
I am sure Will and Jada are tired of people making jokes about their marriage but they are the ones putting out the information. If they didn’t, it would all be gossip and speculation. Why open a door if you don’t want people to come in? Will was wrong for the slap. Chris Rock was wrong for the joke. There are plenty of high profile marriages in Hollywood where people don’t share every detail of their lives. Personally, I am sick of Will and Jada sharing what most of us don’t care to know.
I think you are right about this. He looked fed up. I could identify with him in that moment when he sat back down and seemed totally pissed off and like he just was not there to take shit from Chris Rock on the night. That was a cruel, below the belt comment from Rock on Jada’s medical condition. My brother suffered from the same at one point and was very self conscious about even going to a friend’s wedding. When I saw how beautiful and powerful Jada looked on the red carpet I felt so proud of her because maybe she does feel self conscious about her condition (like my brother did) but she sucked it up and went on. Then Chris Rock did that to her. Sometimes you just need to stand up for yourself no matter where you are. Chris Rock was being a bully and Will Smith handed it to him. There is another good old saying ‘Don’t dish it out if you can’t take it.’
There are many ways to stand up for yourself without physically assaulting someone.
I disagree with the last sentence, Laura. I think that saying would apply if Will than went and insulted Chris with a nasty below the belt joke – in that case Chris really shouldn’t complain.
But Will went and hit him. That’s a whole new level of wrong.
I totally missed the insult in the “joke” – I always think of any GI Jane reference as a reference to a bada** woman who gets the job done (and looks fabulous doing it). She looks gorgeous and hopefully she knows it. I get now why people think it was so insulting, but there have been such brutal jokes at the Oscars – I was surprised this was the one that put someone over the edge, especially since she just rolled her eyes.
@indywom: “Personally, I am sick of Will and Jada sharing what most of us don’t care to know.”
It’s Will’s and Jada’s choice to talk about some aspects of their experiences. Will once shared a humorous/ serious video about reluctantly following his doctor’s advice to undergo a colonoscopy. I’m sure it was helpful advice for many people, and it may have saved or extended some people’s lives.
If you don’t want to know about Will’s & Jada’s private lives, then don’t read or talk about their personal revelations. Ignore them.
@ Lemon that’s my take! I think the marriage jokes were at the root of the violent response.
For years the Smiths have peddled this ideal couple & family brand and it’s swiftly become myth. I think they both struggle w/how they’re perceived now and Wills savage response was the result.
While CR’s humor ( it’s also criminal how unfunny it was ) was out of line, Smith’s response should haunt him
You know, we’ve seen so many famous people lately break down under stress, which I think also matches the stress everyday people are feeling. Isn’t there some other way to do this Oscar process? The show is a mess, no matter what they try, more and more studios are competing for awards, actors have to do year-long junkets to promote the films and themselves – it’s like the 24/7, 365 days a year political races – it’s exhausting and only meant to squeeze more dollars for corporations.
I read an interesting comment on IG: I only see a man willing to destroy himself rather than upsetting his abuser.
This whole situation is tragic, Will made a horrible decision taking away the attention from winning his own Oscar looking crazy. He said himself, love will make you do crazy things. I think Jada cheating and having him wrapped around her finger decades destroyed him
1. They have an open marriage so she wasn’t cheating. 2nd. there were many reports about Will’s affairs too. Interesting how everyone is blaming Jada when he was a player as well. Typical misogyny.
So Jada is at fault because of his childish behavior . Please stop infantilizing men. He can walk away, he has a brain and a will. Will did this to himself. It’s his shit to eat and Jada is in no way responsible of his stupid reaction.
Who is blaming Jada? This incident is 100% Will Smith’s doing. She didn’t go up on stage and physically assault Will. I agree with you in that anyone who blames Jada for this is being misogynistic.
Rosalie (love the name), you aren’t the first person to mention this but you are somehow saying that it’s Jada’s fault Will (a whole grown ass man) got up, walked across a global stage and attacked a man?
She might be the more removed one from the marriage but it doesn’t mean she’s abusive. What do we tell toddlers? Use your words!
I’m really hating this vibe that she somehow cuckolded him and now his only response is to fight everyone. Also, his joke was that she looked like Demi Moore in GI Jane. It wasn’t that she looked bad it was making a reference to a movie. A movie with a ridiculous good looking actress. Oh look you’re bald too. That isn’t slap worthy.
What you’re missing, Mindy, is that it’s a medical condition that she’s still struggling to come to terms with. It’s not about whether she looks bad. She’s losing her hair and it’s not coming back. That’s traumatic for her and Rock should’ve known better than to bring it up. That said, Will shouldn’t have hit him. There were several better ways to handle that situation. He’s been around long enough to know that.
I have alopecia. The hair loss is not permanent, but also not predictable. Right now my hair is completely full on the sides and back and very thin on the top. Two years ago it was the opposite.
Will Smith heading for a mental breakdown?
No, he defended his wife whom he obviously loves a great deal
Will Smith headed for mental breakdown I agree. There is something more to this. The guy snapped out, I was scared just watching it on screen. Very very disturbing.
@PaulaH – While I do understand what you are saying, we need not excuse Will’s behavior with the label of LOVE – that is not right. The fact that he said love makes you do crazy things makes me very angry. That is what abusers say. There are a many different ways to handle that situation and he chose violence and cursing.
Something in him snapped last night. He lost all sense of control. He could have removed himself, and Jada, and left the room. Instead he CHOSE violence – but verbal and physical.
Let’s stop using the excuse of love as an way to make physical and verbal abuse a valid way to respond to stupidity.
^^ I’m not going to sit in judgement against Will Smith, which is too easy for observers on the sidelines to do. We don’t know all the details. There’s a lot of history here, (as noted in my previous post). I think many people in Hollywood are aware of the negative stuff Chris Rock said about Will and especially against Jada, at the 2016 Oscars (boycotted by Will & Jada; hosted by Rock).
It might be a good idea to try and understand more about Will’s upbringing (his father was abusive and there was domestic violence). Will is close to his siblings, and he’s a very good person at heart. His smiles and his humor cover over a lot of deep-seated hurt. I especially admire Will & Jada for the financial support they have given to entrepreneurs in the black community.
Hollywood is a difficult place to navigate. I think there was a great deal of sympathy for Jada & Will in the audience last night. It’s tremendously sad that the incident overshadows so many of the positives that happened during the awards ceremony. I have no sympathy for Chris Rock. He hides behind being a ‘comedian.’ Will’s big moment was only minutes away when Rock decided to take a stab at unhealed wounds he previously caused.
And Jada Pinket boycot the Oscars was not entirely selfless so lets not really villify Chris Rock just so Will Smith violence is justified. There were many other folks, other that Chris Rock, that thought and said that Jada Pinkett and Will Smith were being hypocrites in regards to the whole Oscarstoowhite thing. And its weird how Chris Rock is expected to know Jada Pinkett has alopecia; like, he isn’t her husband or anything like that, how would he know? And why and how are some so certain Rock was necessarily making reference to Jada Pinkett alopecia situation? She might be very vocal about alopecia and whatnot but not everybody in this entire world watches/listens to her show. Maybe Chris Rock is one of the those people that had no clue and he was trully making reference to Demi Moore character!!
@BabsOrig: “There were many other folks, other that Chris Rock, that thought and said that Jada Pinkett and Will Smith were being hypocrites in regards to the whole Oscarstoowhite thing.”
Look, you can take up for Chris Rock’s uncalled for needling if you want. But you are completely wrong to claim that ‘many other folks thought Jada & Will were hypocrites’ because they supported the OscarsSoWhite movement. Who are those ‘many other folk’? It doesn’t matter how many people were against the movement and didn’t like Jada & Will supporting it.
That protest movement, in case you didn’t realize, bore fruit. More doors were opened for people of color, and greater awareness of inequities was raised. It took courage for Jada & Will to make the choice to publicly support that movement by boycotting the 2016 Oscars.
Do you realize what Chris Rock said in 2016 at the Oscars against Jada & Will? It was very nasty and very negative. Rock accepted that hosting gig for money. That’s his prerogative, but it shows me that he had no principles in fronting for the Academy to help defuse the impact of the boycott. It was an important stand Jada & Will took to add their voices toward protesting the lack of inclusiveness in the entertainment industry.
The joke Chris Rock made was tasteless. Full stop. What Will Smith did in response was worse. Committing a crime in response to a bad joke is alarming and raises questions in my mind of when else Will Smith has lashed out in private. When else he has justified his actions with the “Love Makes You Crazy” excuse. Because if he can stride on stage on the biggest night of his career and strike another man I am pretty sure he has struck out against others in the past.
Word, exactly how I feel about this whole Will Smith very public display of violence.
^^ I agree with not condoning violence. But I strongly disagree with making excuses for Chris Rock, and letting him off the hook. It’s important to realize that there is a history of Rock publicly attacking Jada more than once or twice. Rock has also often tried to make fun of Will, even to the point of shading Will for having an amicable relationship with his first wife (with whom Will shares an older son). This is unacceptable behavior by Chris Rock.
Will was in the wrong for his response Sunday evening, but it was Rock who shares the chief blame IMO, for blatantly targeting Jada & Will with negative intent. Rock carelessly threw salt on unhealed wounds.
@Julaine, @BabsORIG I agree with both your sentiments!
Staged? Are you joking? This will do no favours to Will Smith’s career. This will be a stain forever. To be honest, all 3 of them will be affected and in a bad way.
Yes, commented similar above. In his response, Will has only shone a blinding spotlight on his wife, her condition and her distress. This incident – and THAT joke – are now indelibly etched in Oscars history. He could have defended her honour directly with Rock backstage, after the event, away from the cameras – or even called out bullying, unfunny jokes in his speech. What we saw here was a complete loss of control.
The whole night was a bit of a cringe fest, then Will Smith ran onstage and assaulted Chris Rock. I couldn’t change the channel fast enough. They should pre-tape the Oscars from now on.
It will have zero effect on his career. Zero.
I can’t wait to Chris’ next comedy show.He will definitely make jokes about this.He already made a joke about it backstage referencing how Muhammad Ali or Will Smith couldn’t take him out.Will played Muhammad Ali in a film.
Will’s act of violence has overshadowed the historical wins and that’s a shame.
@artmaven I disagree. Will may be in a few more acclaimed movies and might even get nominated for another Academy Award, but the academy’s voters will NEVER let him win again. He won’t be Denzel Washington.
I was utterly disappointed by Will’s lack of control last night on the biggest night of his life. I won’t even get started about Chris Rock because he’s always problematic.
This won’t be a stain on Will Smith’s career. Not when he is in a room full of people who applaud Roman Polanski and still work with a myriad of toxic abusers. Will has reserves of good will to draw upon and there was much sympathy in the audience, and among a significant portion of the audience, for him.
What is telling is all the articles from Vanity Fair talking about how much the Hollywood crowd did NOT shun him at the after events, but treated him as though he had done nothing wrong.
Violence is not the right response to words. Especially jokes. But I’m thinking maybe we should be worried about Will.
This was not about Chris Rock, this was about that Augustus guy Jada had an “entanglement” with. For Will Smith, Chris Rock’s disrespect on his night was the last straw that broke the camel’s back. I think Will Smith is very troubled and I wish him help and lots of therapy.
Also, what he did was assault and he should have been escourted out.
He even partied at the Vanity Fair Party and had a ball, for God’s Sake!!
I was up til 2 am when I have little ones who get up at 7 because I just wanted to see all this discourse on this last night, it was intense and I’m of so many minds on the whole situation. It was shocking to see happen, my mom and i called each other because neither of us could believe what we saw.
I just wanted to support the idea that it was the final straw for WS. Rebel made jokes at the Baftas and he publicly commented on the hurtfulness about jokes about his marriage, and then last night Amy and then Regina also made jokes. Chris’ tame joke by comparison (I don’t think he knew about her alopecia) was I think just the straw, his camel back was broken and he snapped. He’s been snapping, he put his whole damn life and personal details about his marriage out there. They both did. And didn’t expect to be mocked???
I am black, I love Will Smith and I will never look at him the same. No excuse. He needs help, he is not unraveling, he is unraveled and he needs help. Soon will be the statement of rehab, more marital counseling, anger management, something but he can’t just receed into the background, he needs to do something to help his pain
And CR was never going to press charges. Lest he shot him on stage, despite there differences, no black man would put another black man in the control of police if they can avoid it. Also a black male ego thing “we handle our ish on the streets, not in the courts” ya know P. Diddy’s whole “we handle this like family” thing.
All just so upsetting
Im happy to read this comment. Diddys comment about taking care of it like family was crass. Violence should not be handled differently because you’re black and among us there’s a special way to address it. Will lost it, lost his chance of getting an oscar highlighting his work and should have taken that moment to say what he really felt and embarrass CR and whoever wrote the joke. Instead he snapped, stole a moment from so many people in the room, stole himself a moment and his beautiful legacy is stained. Very selfish. Today he cant go outside without hiding and feeling like an azz
Runaway- everything you said. Everything.
100% agree with @Runaway
Runaway – completely agree.
Will’s reaction was a culmination of events that have taken place during the awards season and probably even before that. The constant oversharing about their lives and personal details of their marriage has worn me out so I can only imagine the toll it has taken on the Smith family.
I also believe he is unraveled and may need to time to regain his mental and emotional health.
I’m disappointed in Will’s reaction and there’s a hundred ways he could have handled it better. I’d love to see the entire family disappear to replenish themselves and emerge a stronger unit instead of pretending to be that strong unit.
Runaway everything you said!
I see many people saying that, and I don’t understand why! Will and Jada seem to have an open marriage, and Will’s feelings about Jada and Augustus would just be speculation on any of OUR PART! So just full stop! Stop projecting this incident onto something else. Rock insulted Jada’s looks with a rude, disrespectful comment, and Smith wanted to defend his wife. I get that. I don’t condone his violent behavior, but I understand wanting to defend his wife after Rock’s rude, stupid “joke”.
It was really in poor taste for both of them but stop putting this on Jada and Augustus! That’s a bit of a stretch, and one of us are their damn therapists!
I don’t think Will wants it to be open though. He did an interview in which he said Jada grew up differently that he did and he wants to support her being her. It sounded like he was trying to be okay with their relationship being as it is.
He seems like an abused man to me – I think he is emotionally manipulated by Jada at the very least. That he changed so quickly when he saw her reaction reminded me of how an abused friend would change when her husband caught her eye.
To be clear – she isn’t responsible for his behaviour tonight and I do think that he has a lot of complex emotions and responses because of his relationship with Jada.
I agree with you @Monette.
Chris Rock took the punch that Will wanted to give other people: Jada’s “entanglement” partner(s?), Regina for her joke and Rebel Wilson for her BAFTA joke. The difference is that Chris Rock didn’t joke about the Smith marriage, he joked about Jada’s hair. I truly don’t think that Chris Rock knew Jada’s condition and thought it was a voluntary head shave.
The Smiths have been talking about their open marriage A LOT. I get the impression from things I have read that Jada wanted the more open marriage. So Will probably needs to come to terms with his true feelings about that. But not by committing assault and battery. Last night, Will Smith made Kanye look reasonable by comparison. He owes Chris Rock a public thank you for not pressing charges.
^^ I echo @AmyB. Please see my post about Chris Rock’s unfunny attacks against Will & Jada at the 2016 Oscars that W&J boycotted to support the #OscarsSoWhite movement. Yes, Will could have and should have handled this differently. Still, Rock was completely out-of-line, and I blame him for causing the incident.
No one condones violence. But I think understanding, rather than judging and projecting, is a better way for sideline observers to respond. I think people should especially stop picking on Will & Jada for having been so open about their marriage travails.
In the long run, I hope that what happened last night ends up leading to Will working harder to heal from childhood trauma, the vagaries of fame, and from self-inflicted wounds.
Yes, @aftershocks. In opening up about their marriage, Will and Jada have just led everyone thinking they are some armchair psychologist, trying to surmise exactly what is going on, based on the interviews they have given! NO ONE knows what goes on behind closed doors with any couple, so just stop!! And this incident? The responsibility and accountability falls upon WILL! You can agree or disagree about his reaction, fine. But stop pulling the situation with Jada/Augustus into this, or their open marriage, or anything else you would like to conjure up!
I hope Will and Chris can work this out privately and move on from this. The incident was highly problematic for a multitude of reasons, and tragic to see on national television.
Chris shouldn’t have made the joke and Will shouldn’t have punched him.
Yep. They were both idiots–and for what? A cheap laugh? Macho garbage? Neither goal was worth the humiliation they brought on themselves.
I find it interesting that Jada’s feelings are being overlooked. As if she wasn’t humiliated by Rock. Will defend his wife….PERIOD
@PaulaH – I get he was defending his wife. But in the WAY he chose to defend her – yeah, no. What he’s done is make her distress and her condition globally famous for all time.
@The Hench: I get it trust me. He will live with the consequences of his actions. That’s how life works. You live with the consequences of your actions. If you feel justified in your actions, you accept the consequences. Chris Rock has to also accept the consequences of his actions. He’s vile and disgusting for attacking a women based on her physical appearance, that’s NEVER funny.
@M&GHAN it was an open palmed slap, not a punch. Let’s not exaggerate.
That is what abusive men say…it was an open palm slap not a punch, therefore it’s not assault. It’s still assault.
💯💯
I agree. Chris shouldn’t have made the joke, for a myriad of reasons. Will had every right to be angry, but should not have assaulted him. To me it’s clear that both made mistakes here.
What a terrible situation. Will finally wins his Oscar, and it will forever be overshadowed by his poor choices in that moment. Everyone else who won too, it will be known as “oh yeah, that was the year Will hit Chris.”
Yeah i’m team Will! I’m sorry making a joke about an illness is not ok. Especially making a joke about a black woman’s hair in an audience full of white people and millions watching. The abuse/humiliation of black women is not ok or fun. The one person who deserves an apology is Jada. Interesting seeing all the people who’ve been wanting to go to war with Russia all of sudden be against violence. Actions have consequences. Chat shit get banged!
I’m surprised how many people are so quick to claim assault but I compared him making fun of Jada’s illness and wondering if it were a white person who had an ailment (cancer, ect) would the reaction be the same.
It was terrible joke in, people are watching who have the same condition, and it’s not Rock’s first time being awful to his own community. He was far out of line.
Did I wish Will held back, yes. Do I think he needed to be arrested, or now crucified because of it- absolutely not.
This. All this.
100%. I wish Will had waited to be backstage. But arrested? Nah.
Will is now a scary, possibly abusive person to them because he reacted to Chris Rock humiliating Jada in front of a global audience.
Chris Rock would never have done this to a white actor’s white wife.
@otherside, you got this EXACTLY right.
Anyone who attacks someone is probably going to come across as violent and abusive. Particularly someone willing to do it on camera. Imagine if it happened to you? You might come away with the same take. I don’t support the normalization of violence in our society. Especially with everything that’s going on in the world.
And why does Will Smith have to rush in and defend Jada? Support her, yes – but she’s an adult. I think she’s more than capable of defending herself.
@otherside: Speak and say it loud!
It is technically assault. Chris Rock could still have him arrested. There’s more than enough evidence and witnesses. A tasteless joke as a provocation wouldn’t be much of a defense for Will Smith in court, for example. He’s lucky he’s Will Smith, because if that happened between two strangers on the street – it would be assault and a possible arrest.
@Again I agree. Will should have consulted with Jada about handling it and not rushed in. Jada should have been allowed to control the situation.
If I had a pattern of saying shitty things about someone, including about a health condition, and the person’s wife smacked me for it, no, I wouldn’t think the person was abusive.
Lay one finger on a person, no matter the possible provocation, that’s assault. If you even spit on someone, you can be arrested.
You can resolve conflict without using violence – for example Will could have just called him out from the audience, like he did later on. The fact that he resorted to violence without a seeming thought, that’s more than concerning. And yeah, it’s criminal.
@Damn: You sound as though you are positively salivating at the thought.
I do think Rock is the better person for not verbally abusing him back or humiliating him by having him arrested on stage. Or afterwards. I think that Will Smith has a problem that needs to be addressed by therapy at the very least. He had a meltdown on stage as well. Over a joke. He won the damn Oscar. And with celebrity friends consoling him too. Sort of sickening to me. With everything that’s going on in the world – that shit was not necessary.
That looked like it hurt and I bet it did. Did Rock pay enough for his crap joke?
@ Otherside – All this, all day.
This is my take as well. Rock needed to be schooled and is lucky he only got slapped. Humiliating Jada was not ok.
Yup! Of course it’s the demographic that move the most mad and are used to getting away with microaggressions against black women that are against violence all of sudden.
If Beyonce and JayZ was sitting on the front row and Beyonce had all of her hair shaved off with a red X on top of her head, would Chris Rock make that same Joke……HELL to the NO
Rock definitely needs to apologize to Jada Pinkett Smith.
I didn’t watch the Oscars, so I only read this morning “Will Smith slapped Chris Rock” and I was shocked and appalled, but then I found out why he slapped him and I kinda get it. Would I have done the same? Probably not, but I can understand that he snapped when he saw how the “joke” hurt his wife.
If a comedian making jokes about someone’s appearance due to that person’s illness is not okay, the best way to prove that point is to stop hiring that comedian. Remove their platform.
Sure, Will got mad, and with good reason… But we can not condone his violent reaction. How many times has anger led to violence? This is not a new phenomenon. We can not condone violence, ever. Nor should we excuse it. Full stop.
Knowing he was going to win he should’ve waited for his speech to respond him in a much more classy way and everyone would be trashing Chris only.
If he acts like this in a very public situation what would he do in private?
Yiiiiiikes, and good point 🙁
Love will make you do crazy things is the last thing he should have said. That’s a line straight out of a DV abusers mouth. Normalizing and downplaying violence is not ok, even though that joke was not funny or appropriate.
He slapped a man who disrespected his wife. He didn’t slap his wife.
This. It was shocking an disappointing to see him react with violence in a professional setting, on an important night for his career. But it was absolutely chilling to hear him justify it with “love.” There have been blind items and rumblings about Will’s violence for years. I did not want to believe it. But after last night, I believe it. If this is how he acts when the world is watching, I shudder to think how he behaves in private. It is classic toxic masculinity, and everyone defending his actions/blaming Jada is part of the society that allows men to behave this way. Enough already.
Back when I was in college a couple of guys got into a fight over a girl. They were yelling in each other’s faces and one shoved the other and he fell and hit his head on a curb and died. From a shove! Think how different the conversation would be if something like this happened to Chris. Anytime you lay your hands on another you are risking their life.
Today you have a bunch of young boys Rewatching this in incident and seeing/hearing comments from adults saying “he had it coming”. Is that helping us to raise less violent men?
Remember back in the late 90s when Will would go one about not using curse words or violent language in his music? What happened to that Will?
Disgusted to see so many people normalising and excusing violence. Will Smith is a criminal who should be charged. Sickening to hear all the excuses trotted out to justify him, especially the one about growing up in a home with dv. Don’t like it, Will? Then don’t do it. There is NOT ONE excuse for his behaviour. Society will never be able to make way against violence against women while men are applauded for lashing out physically with the excuse ‘it was for love.’
@My3Cents – THANK YOU. +1
So tired of seeing people defend Will’s actions and words last night using the word LOVE. And Will needs help if that is his excuse.
Honestly left me wondering if alopecia was not the only reason Jada keeps her head shaved and if there’s something more serious she’s been through/going through health wise and it just boiled over that people were joking about it.
Not even a funny joke from Chris Rock and overshadowed Will Smith’s Oscar win (finally) – and just overall took focus from some amazing wins.
Certainly not his intention to detract from the winners but given it’s blighted his own win and probable future attendance/opportunities… felt like there was a more serious underlying driver than alopecia.
I have a feeling the assault won’t hinder Will’s future opportunities. Rich and famous with a massive platform protected by other rich and famous colleagues.
Many men have done FAR WORSE than this and still have great careers. This is nothing. Will made himself look bad for a night and that’s all.
Alopecia can be caused by extreme stress and its not a joke – from what I’ve read Jada didn’t look happy about it and that might have set him off but violence is never the answer. Both men were in the wrong.
I was shocked by it as Will has a good longstanding rep as a good, nice guy thou I think early in his career there were issues with behaviour but he seemed to have moved past that.
I know of some instances that the victim declined to pressure charges, but the assailant was arrested anyways. This will never happen to Will Smith cause he’s Will Smith.
This does happen and could still happen to Will. It will be up to the DA whether to press charges or not. Considering how high profile and highly public this was, if he’s not charged it will be seen as a double standard. I would be far less shocked to see him charged than I was by what happened.
I was wondering about this aspect of it. My understanding was that a victim ‘pressing charges’ isn’t actually a thing, it’s whether or not they decide to cooperate with an investigation. Then the prosecutor will decide whether they think they can win the case without it and if so they bring the charges. Given the fact that before/during/after of the entire event was recorded and had hundreds of eyewitnesses it doesn’t seem like what CR wants would have much to do with it?
That said, I don’t think charging Will Smith will mitigate the damage that’s already been done. By him, by CR for that awful ‘joke’, or by the producers of the show who let WS stay and give that messed-up speech.
We’re also talking about a town where Zga Zga (or Eva) Gabor, a Hungarian actress, slapped a COP. As I recall, she didn’t spend time in jail for that either.
It was a dickish joke, and one that made fun of someone’s physical condition, not one that made fun of choices or decisions. I’d have slapped him, too, but not during the broadcast. I suspect Will Smith feels he acted out of chivalry, but I would have had more respect if Jada had done it herself.
Thank god for feminism but at the same time, nope. I really dislike your idea about that! Men need to have some responsibility and in addition if it was reversed the wife could stick up for her husband that would be good too. It’s good that will did that instead of her doing it herself. However it is also assault. I didn’t watch the show so any context Idk it. But Jada looked very good, that colour suits her well. I always found Jada somewhat cute but pretty average compared to her husband, obviously she’s attractive but to me doesn’t have the je ne sais quoi or maybe I don’t care for her styling (I loooooove how WS sticks with her, makes him even more attractive!) yet somehow she is more beautiful when older and bald ?! (She’s obviously rich so maybe she got some subtle tweaking that made her prettier idk.) could Chris have been struck by her beauty and thought the joke would be cool because he meant it as a compliment? But, Chris should know he is not Ricky Gervais, (he’s attractive and shouldn’t joke about women’s appearances, it’s totally punching down) and this is not the golden globes and he is not the host. In addition didn’t Chris produce and promote the movie good hair, about how hair is a tough subject for African American women? Isn’t alopecia sometimes caused by Extensions? What a tone deaf thing to joke about! This is why I think he meant that unfunny “joke” it as an awkward compliment; he is too aware to make a mean spirited joke about the wrong subject in the wrong place. Not excusing him or will but just giving my theories about why Chris would do that. I know what will did is illegal instinctively I like it a lot
Merricat,
I had a similar thought. I don’t condone violence. I was so shocked that it happened, period. And I am not saying it would be “ok” for Jada to do it either. I don’t know Jada personally, but I see the persona that she is known for publically. She always conmes across as a bad ass. So there is a part of me that kinda feels like “If Jada really wanted Chris Rock slapped, she would have slapped him herself.”
I don’t know how she feels. But me personally? I would have wanted to melt into the floor if my husband did that. I feel like CR embarrassed her, and Will compounded that embarrassment by slapping him. CR’s joke was not nice, but more importantly, it was not even a good joke. It was dumb. “Oh hur hur hur, you are bald and so was Demi Moore 25 years ago in a movie”, put aside that alopecia can be devastating – the joke was not even funny on ANY level. No one would remember it if Will hadn’t hit him. Now it is all we are talking about.
This. I would have been absolutely mortified if anyone I knew did that, even if it was to protect me. Whether it was in front of only one other person or the millions that watched the Oscars, it’s embarrassing and demeaning to Jada and it’s disrespectful to everyone that he’s worked with this Oscar season who have probably also waited their entire lives and careers to win. It’s a very self-centered thing that he did. Honestly, I would have preferred if Jada had gone up there and slapped Chris Rock. But the slap should have never happened in the first place. There are much better ways to get back at somebody for being cruel than violence. Will humiliated himself and his wife on international television, in my opinion.
“Chivalry” is about the “chivalrous” one “protecting” his chattels. It’s not about the chattel, it’s about the person claiming virtue.
Since I started writing, Turtledove said it better: If Jada felt Chris needed slapping, she’d have done it herself.
Louder for the people in the back!
I really don’t understand why people are assuming he was mocking her illness or physical condition. He was making a weak joke about a conscious choice of hair style (shaved head) and the joke clearly was not saying anything bad about it. Will even was laughing at it initially.
There was no indication that he thought she looked ugly with a shaved head. She had plenty of other options to cover her head creatively if she had wanted to do so. It was a conscious choice and she knew she looked good that way. Since when do Hollywood types choose a hair style and then don’t want anybody to mention it? She makes a living being talked about. I wonder what was really going through Jada’s mind when Will decided she was so unhappy that he had to play defender of her honor.
No excuse for unprovoked violence, ever.
Pretty sure Will Smith felt provoked.
Violence is never justified. Unless it’s used in self defense. It sends a terrible message. Especially in these times. I’ve been attacked before and my attacker tried to say I brought it on myself. Do you know I almost died? It was domestic violence, btw.
To say I found that horrifying and triggering, is an understatement. And I’m no snowflake – my attacker choked me unconscious. Chris Rock is the better person for not having him arrested.
I am not evolved enough to allow someone to taunt the illnesses of my loved ones. *shrug* I would have gone with a pointed joke of my own during my acceptance speech, but that’s me.
That definitely would have been the preferred response. A measured, thoughtful one.
Also the one least likely to lead to an arrest record.
Eh.
To paraphrase Chris Rock’s comments on OJ Simpson killing his ex-wife: “I’m not saying he should’ve done it…but I understand”.
Chris Rock is a misogynist plain and simple. He spent his entire career making fun of his first wife, then dragging her as his ex wife and fighting her for spousal/child support and then trading her in for a younger woman. He is a putz and this time he tried it with someone else’s wife and it came back and bit him.
Totally agree. Chris Rock makes the most tasteless jokes and there was nothing to be gained joking about Jada. Both men were in the wrong. Will was wrong to hit Rock during the ceremony and Rock shouldn’t have joked about Jada.
^^^^
Yep!
So much for free speech… I think everyone agrees the joke was in bad taste and shouldn’t have been made. But the response to an insult is not physical violence. There’s a reason Will could have gotten charged for assault and it’s because the law agrees you are not allowed to randomly hit other people no matter how bad their words are.
But honestly what I find more shocking is that he did that on stage, live on TV. Like wtf, that indicates something is terribly wrong with him, either he’s going through some psychological issues or something else happened to him. But no one remotely sane would do this LIVE ON TV in front of the whole world. You’d probably pick a fight with Chris afterwards and that would not have been surprising to most people. But this is just….super weird.
Free speech has nothing to do with this. Chris Rock wasn’t arrested for what he said.
Freedom of speech is not freedom from consequences and applies to the government acting on what one said. It does not keep someone from from reacting.
Yes but if you react by putting your hands on someone, you will be in the wrong.
@AngelaH: I thought everybody knew this.
people are constantly misusing the term “free speech.” it is only about government control of speech. period
(there is also a legal concept of “fighting words” which can be used as a defense. not saying that it would apply here, but it exists as a legal concept.)
Chris Rock is a horrible person. Will should not have slapped him. both can be true! and neither has anything whatsoever to do with the concept of free speech.
Freedom of speech only means freedom of consequences from the government.
Twitter can ban you or Will Smith can smack you and nobody will have violated your right to free speech.
I feel you all are missing the point – there’s no freedom of speech if the consequences of speaking are physical assault i.e. punishment for speaking.
And no, you do not actually have the right to assault someone for speaking, that’s exactly what free speech means by law. That you get to speak and nobody is allowed to stop you or assault you for it. It doesn’t protect you only from the government it protects you from ANYONE prohibiting you from speaking.
Otherwise there is no free speech if you think it’s okay to put your hands on someone because they said something.
Also, Twitter bans you because you violated their terms of using their platform, it doesn’t actually ban you because you said something they disagree with. You are free to say the exact same thing on another platform and again nobody is allowed to assault you for it.
Rock did a documentary called Good Hair about the industry surrounding black women’s hair. I am surprised he made such a tone death and stupid joke. I thought he would know better.
That said Will has horrible anger issues. He must truly not be well. This was so upsetting to watch. I feel bad for his wife and kids.
Well my days of not watching the ceremony….are going to continue.
I woke up to this and watched the clips. How deeply embarrassing and humiliating for all involved and the way the aftermath was handled was…not good. Not by the Academy and not by the in theatre audience (although I’ll allow an element of shock likely contributed) That speech? I barely got through it. That was more of a mental breakdown than anything else, I didn’t feel I should be watching it.
And in the way these things tend to happen, Jada bears no fault, but because of men’s poor judgment a joke that I hadn’t even heard because I didn’t watch has been amplified 1000 fold so everyone will have heard it. And the other winners get overshadowed (I couldn’t even find footage of Ariana’s speech at first!).
What an absolute mess.
I accidentally saw a headline on my way to the pillow for the night lol. It shocked me, so of course I had to sit back up and dive in. I can’t stand CR so I cringed at his making fun of Jada. I’m white, I know I can’t ever fully understand proper perspectives, but I have lived long, read and heard much, followed Jada’s alopecia discovery, and my heart broke learning about her journey, and learning about so many stories from black women, friends, etc., this kind of old school trash joke bullying is truly unacceptable. It’s disgusting, and watching her husband’s facial expressions before and after the crime was heartbreaking. He had had enough.
This is what would happen in many situations across the globe if another human started making fun of a man’s wife…he’d, in some way, defend her. But do not get me wrong, Will was at the f@cking Oscars, lost his mind, and in anger stormed the stage and smacked a repulsive comedian in front of the world. His actions threw another humongous log on our cultural and unfortunately political fires. It makes me sad. And I’m very disappointed all the way around.
I don’t think was staged in any way, and Lupita’s reaction confirms that for me. I’m also not here to pick teams or declare a victor in this situation but the only thing I’ll offer is that I think it’s pretty clear Will has snapped. Not in a way that is deeply concerning to his mental health and wellbeing, but he has snapped in that he (and Jada) are clearly very tired of being the butt of everyone’s jokes for the last year now. All their attempts to correct the narrative have only led to more jokes for many, many months now, and having not one but /two/ jokes made at you and your spouse’s expense in a room full of your peers AS WELL AS an international broadcast cannot feel good for anyone. This reaction feels extremely out of character for Will Smith, someone who has a sterling reputation for being a professional and a nice guy in the industry.
Will is in an extremely sensitive and sore spot right now, and it came across in his acceptance speech, which felt so joyless to me. I actually felt tense watching it.
This. Snapped is the right word. We don’t know the pressures others are feeling, we can’t know what’s in their head. And that’s something we should all be mindful of.
I think it’s very concerning. It’s been about a year and a half since they were forced to address her “entanglement” with August and they’ve been responding to the narrative since. Rebel Wilson was brutal a couple weeks ago hosting an awards show and Regina Hall was pretty rude with her insinuations early in the Oscars. He took all his pain and humiliation out on one comedian though. Not many people are mentioning he was near tears when yelling at Chris. His pain was palpable and he was out of control.
Last night-their toxic af marriage was on full display. It was really sad to see.
Hold on… let’s get a few things straight.
1. No one asked Jada about her relationship or her lover….she volunteered all that information and then some on her table talk show…she opened her life up. She did that.
2. Will wrote a book and opened more up.
3. Jada brought will on her show so they could talk about it all…where the man cried like a baby about it.
This was all them….if you open alll that up- you don’t expect people to make jokes?
Chris rock didn’t even go there…he made a joke about GI Jane- unfunny? Yes. But we don’t know he knew she had a medical condition. Why is everyone assuming he knew? Because they are both Black celebrities? They are all self absorbed in their own worlds. It’s u likely he knew!
@EDI – totally agree. They made their lives an open book. No one was asking them a thing about their marital woes or indiscretions.
A lot of women are wearing the shaved head look for style. Why is everyone assuming that Rock knew she has alopecia? Not everyone is sitting on the edge of theirs seats to hear the next chapter of the Smith family saga as narrated by Jada. As stated upthread, Will’s response was a culmination of an arduous award season of questions and pokes about his private life. This was just the last straw.
@Edi
Co-sign every word you wrote.
Thank you! I am shocked by the amount of support Will Smith is receiving. Yes, I hear all of the reasons why he could have been moved to do it – BUT YOU DON’T ACTUALLY DO IT!!!!
@EDI Chris knew. He did a documentary called ‘Good Hair’ in which a woman suffering from alopecia was featured, in fact he interviewed her so saying he didn’t know is a lame excuse. Will ought not to have lost control like that and was wrong for assaulting him but Chris was wrong in the first place for making fun of Jada’s hair condition. Not everything is for a cheap laugh.
I’m sure we’ll hear all about this at some point directly from him but I’m sure on one of the biggest nights of his career where he was nominated for an Oscar his adrenaline was already pumping and his emotions running the show. As you mentioned then adding several insults throughout the broadcast on this night when you are supposed to be celebrated by your peers surely created this tipping point for him where he acted so out of character from what we’ve heard about him.
And yes if this were like Tom Cruise or someone who has that thinly veiled anger vibe around him I would be super disgusted by the violence and saying it’s inexcusable but it’s hard not to feel for Will. While I’m being generous, it also must extremely suck to be assaulted and yelled/cursed at while you are doing your job on live tv and all eyes are on you to remain professional and stay “funny.” CR must have been very shaken up.
Agreed. It probably wasn’t just that one comment bothering him, but other things directed at his wife and kids over the years too. His reaction isn’t right. Like Yup said, you don’t actually do it. But I think you may be right about the motive.
Just before the ceremony I was thinking just how tacky the Oscars has become, and hoping that the Sussexes would have nothing to do with it. I am so happy that Harry and Meghan were not at this event. They need to choose very carefully the events they attend and who they associate with.
Lol you’re really commenting about Harry and Meghan in the middle of this? You’re as obsessed as the people on the other side.
Which side?
^^ LOL! We don’t need to advise M&H what to do and where to appear. They have shown how careful, thoughtful, and intentional they are about deciding when and where they are seen in public. We usually see them in connection with their support of worthy causes. There would have been no purposeful reason for M&H to attend the Oscars. Plus, they have young children at home, which also impacts their public appearance choices. Regardless of relaxed attitudes and restrictions, the COVID virus and its mutations are still with us.
The claims that M&H might appear were probably in part p.r. promotion put out by the Academy, to get people to watch. In addition, the ratchet rotas love scooping up any Sussex-related tidbit and engaging in OTT exaggeration.
Not everyone knows Jada has alopecia. Many women choose to shave or buzz cut their heads, Lupita, Charlize, Solange, Demi. It’s a badass look. Their own daughter did it.
I had no idea she had alopecia, I thought she buzzed it intentionally because she looks so cute.
She does look beautiful! And she was in green so the comparison was not a far jump. I was reading she was diagnosed around 2018? She had been wearing her hair like this long before that, I never would have known she had a condition if will hadn’t reacted and made it a thing.
My mom, 80 year old southern European immigrant, has no idea who Jada is – what she did say is that the woman is beautiful and looked so elegant. I thougt she looked great too.
I didn’t know that either but it’s still sh*tty to make a joke about someone’s appearance. If he meant that she looks hot it wouldn’t be a joke. “Lupita! Looking forward to your Naomi Campbell biopic!” – see? not funny.
Anyone here who was never called out in grade school by a boy comparing their clothing or hair or appearance to *literally anything* might not know, but when a guy calls you out and compares you to something then laughs, he’s making fun of you.
He was comparing her to a younger Demi Moore. I think hotness was implied.
^^ Everyone stating that Chris Rock ‘probably didn’t know’ about Jada’s alopecia, needs to stop with that excuse and take several seats. Chris Rock had absolutely no business saying one word about either Jada or Will during this awards show, or ever!
Read what Rock had the nerve to say against Jada (including Rihanna in his nasty remarks too) at the 2016 Oscars! Hurtful and in extremely poor taste, as he mocked Jada & Will for their success and for taking a stand in support of the #OscarsSoWhite movement. The stand that Jada & Will took back then, has borne fruit.
Do you realize that if Jada didn’t have alopecia, Rock still had no business opening his mouth to target her appearance!!! Nor should Rock have even glanced in the Smiths’ direction after his jealous attacks against them in 2016.
I have very conflicting feelings so I love seeing everyone’s thoughts here. I just cannot imagine my wife’s medical condition being publicly ridiculed in an auditorium full of my colleagues, knowing there are millions more at home doing the same thing. Then add the fact that you are two of the few Black faces in a white room doing the laughing and the enormous pressure building toward this night. I can understand Will Smith losing it even if I wish he hadn’t lashed out physically.
I also came away with respect for Chris Rock, who got slapped publicly without hitting back, kept right on going, and then didn’t press charges. I don’t think everyone would’ve shown that restraint/maturity. Especially someone making a dated and unnecessary joke at a Black woman’s expense.
^^ Yeah, I’ll give it to Rock that he moved on fairly well, after being verbally abusive himself on live television, and being slapped back for it! This was six years in the making, at the very least; and perhaps longer for all I know (re the history between Will & Rock, who appeared in the past on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air).
Still, I mainly have no sympathy and no respect for Chris Rock. He hides his abusive behavior behind being ‘a comedian.’ Rock has made many unnecessary jokes against black women through the years. Hopefully, Rock will begin to think twice before crossing that line again, especially after his 2016 attacks toward Jada & Will. Rock most certainly better keep Jada’s name out of his nasty mouth!
It was an appalling joke, but the physical attack was even more appalling.
+1
And the “love and God made me do it” speech did NOT make things better.
Exactly 👏🏼
Anyone defending Will’s decision to react with violence is wrong. And, in my opinion, it reveals these defenders’history of violence in their own lives.
^^ And what do your opinions reveal about you @Zadie? The thing to do is to learn more about how Rock attacked Jada & Will in 2016, even bringing Rihanna’s name into with sleazy, uncalled for innuendo. I would suggest that people not try to defend Rock’s behavior. He triggered the incident in a blatantly underhanded and cruel way, seemingly out of jealousy.
Both Will and Rock hopefully have learned lessons from this drama. None of us are players in the entertainment industry AFAIK, nor do we know Will or Rock personally. So we should refrain from projecting and realize there’s a lot more to the back story between these guys.
Chris’ joke was in poor taste – no argument here. But then again, presenters at these award shows get hired to roast the sh** out of people. Ricky Gervais anyone? What you do is you take it in grace and laugh about it and if it offends you deeply then there would have been so many more ways to get back at Chris. Also, Jada doesn’t strike me as the woman who needs a man to stand up for herself. But his speech after he got the award? That was peak cringe for me. Excuse me but the argument love makes you do crazy things??? Pretty much the argument every stalker which killed their victim will use. Love made me do it. Nothing ever excuses flat out violence like EVER. I hope this will not be forgotten but men get so many excuses and second chances in this world….
Will handled his emotions with violence justifying it as love. Disturbing.
I confess that his “love makes you do crazy things” line was the worst for me.
The justification of every abuser, women hitter for decades, the reason why the horrible expression “crime of passion” was allowed to make headlines.
And those coming in his defense , cheering as he stood up for his woman as if she was some poor defenseless propriety that needed her macho guy to flex his muscles for her. Just wow.
Manta-That comment from him made me cringe because like you said-that is what abusers say to their victims ALL THE TIME. I was seeing tweets about Denzel and others going up to Will and comforting HIM after. And then he gets a standing ovation and everyone is cheering for him? Last night was a disgusting night on so many levels.
@Erica Denzel spoke to BOTH Chris and Will and was trying to broker the peace. He is a statesman. My esteem for him has skyrocketed beyond what I thought possible. This was terrible all around. But I do agree with those who said Will handled it poorly. Like others have said, say what you need to say in your speech that you know is coming up in half an hour! No one would’ve batted an eye had Senator Cory Booker slapped the shit out of Ted Cruz last week for his treatment of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, but the way he handled it was much more impactful, and resonant, and uplifting. Had Will done that, he’d be an uncontested hero today. I saw a man who had lost it and made something more about himself and his own ego. Not Jada. And I might be in the minority (in more ways than one), but I say this as someone who likes both Smith and Rock.
In his speech Will suggested his role and his assault were connected, protect the family. Did the Willams dad physically abuse them or his wife? How does the Williams family feel about Will’s sucker punching a comedian at the Oscars? What does protect mean, defend when at physical risk, yes. Exert violence when someone is rude? No.
Look I think Smith was dead wrong in getting up & slapping Rock but let’s make it clear: it was an open hand slap, he did not “sucker punch” Rock or punch him at all
That said, had Smith shouted at Rock to STFU, blasted Rock in his speech and all the post-show interviews Smith knew would be coming, using the interviews as a venue to explain the cruelty of “the Joke” & the problem of misygnoir his message would have been amazingly effective. Hell, he could have blasted the crap out of Rock backstage without detracting from the message, Intsead the violence became what everyone’s talking about
I find it disturbing the number of people defending the WAY in which smith assaulted Rock…. As someone who has been physically abused before and slapped across the face many times, it’s triggering that people are spinning it downplay it.
I’m fairly certain I was clear that I was not defending Smith laying hands on Rock in any way. That said there is a difference between sucker punching someone and an open hand slap. Embellishing this to a sucker punch, a beatdown, suggesting this is a sign that Smith is generally violent and/or a domestic abuser, or as an example of “Black on Black violence” (yeah, the racists are going on about that) is not helpful and you can point that out without defending this act of violence
Chris Rock was in the wrong for the joke but Will shouldn’t have responded by punching the guy. I’m sorry but let’s not condone physical violence no matter how much the other deserves it. And I’m not defending Chris the person, I’m condoning the action take against him – there’s a difference.
Typical… a man assaults another in front of millions of witnesses, then is handed a gold trophy, career recognition, and what is essentially a raise and promotion.
He should never have been allowed to remain in the room after physically assaulting someone on air, let alone given an award.
Completely agree. This was not a “show”. This was a work function. Chris was on the clock for the Oscars and they did nothing to help or protect him. Any other industry would be getting sued
100% agree.
Male privilege is probably playing a role in *some* of the sympathy Will Smith is getting. Imagine if any female celebrity over the age of 17 reacted this way on her own behalf as a direct response to someone making Return of Kings/ Eminem-style comments about her? She would be made out to be all kinds of sick and psychotic forever. It would be all about how she should have just earned a degree, stayed off social media, and taken up a tasteful career as a neurosurgeon if she didn’t want to be talked about like a failed virginity test. Grin-and-bear-its + anti-woke stunt queens on both sides would be clutching their pearls about any hint of sympathy for the woman or criticism of the misogynistic abuse she reacted to, and the public would double and triple down on the sexism that was hurting her. I’m not saying women and girls in the public eye *should* be encouraged to start slapping people for going Nick Valizadeh or Rush Limbaugh on them btw. Not saying it’s ok. It just has to be said, even when famous females just react *verbally* to misogyny, they can get raked over the coals for it, or not receive the this kind of patience for having an emotional response.
Thanks to everyone who explained some of the nuance here. It’s a really complicated situation. Chris and Will both look bad. But Will is the only one who has an excuse. Doesn’t make it right, but makes it understandable. I get why he did it. I sympathize with him. Part of me agrees with him reacting so quickly. Whereas with Chris, I am still scratching my head as to why he would make a joke about a woman’s medical condition…
I’m not a very sensitive person although I treat people with regard for their sensitivity, but I saw Chris’s joke as a reference to her hair style rather than her hair condition. I took it for granted that she kept it short as a choice over several years, even before alopecia, and would know she looks great, as I think she does. I think he was even suggesting she can rock a buzz cut like Demi Moore, just my opinion, he didn’t explicitly say this. That said, Chris made a documentary about black women and hair and would likely know she has alopecia. If so, he should have known better. However, I think Will Smith was really out of control and his response was disrespectful to all the nominees and winners.
YES! The way I interpreted that joke was: Demi looked like a badass w/a bald head in GI Jane and if Jada were to do a sequel she’d look like a badass bald headed woman as well. I don’t understand why people are insisting he made light of her medical condition when actually, he did not. If I had a bald head, for whatever reason, and someone said to me: damn girl, you could be in GI Jane 2! I’d take it as a compliment!
This is the position I hold too. I don’t know why comedians are allowed to make fun of everything and let’s be honest they certainly don’t do that, they pick and choose their targets based on what they can get away with.
Physical pain is not the only kind of pain there is, which is what would have gotten Will Smith arrested. Chris had no right to make fun of Jada’s condition, she is not balding by choice it is by way of a medical condition. What is she supposed to do with the pain he inflicted her? Just because we don’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there.
Both Chris and Will were wrong with Chris as the aggressor.
Personally, I didn’t know Jada shaved her head due to a medical condition and consider myself fairly up to date on celebrity stories. It’s possible Chris thought she did it for a role (wasn’t her shaved head incorporated into the plot of a film?). Yes, it nuanced. But smacking someone is NEVER the solution. Will had a podium that night where he could have used his words to defend his wife.
I had no idea she’s had alopecia since 2018. What have I heard about her constantly in the last few years has been about her open relationship drama, not her hair!
There is NO excuse.
I believe Wanda is friends with Chris Rock, and Amy was on Drew Barrymore talking about how supportive and helpful her friend and mentor Chris Rock has been. I’m curious what they, and Chris, will say. I think Chris will continue to be a good sport. I’m also wondering what Rebel Wilson will say since she was even meaner a couple weeks ago when she hosted an awards show. I can’t stand some comments about this since I’m not a Smith fan and I abhor violence, especially when there’s double standards galore here, but I can’t look away. Saying good night at 4am.
I felt so sorry for the Williams sisters. Their project and their dad got dragged into this. Plus all the other nominees /winners. I’m not a will fan at all and I’m definitely not now.
This. Toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
couldn’t have said it better.
Then Will tries defending his assault using their father as a justification for violence with “protect the family.” From bad jokes? Jeez
Think! Toxic Masculinity ruins the party and then drags the Williams sisters into a negative situation they had nothing to do with, on a night they could be just be celebrating.
Southern fried… Yes. Likening what he did to their dad. I will see the movie because I love the Williams sisters and know nothing about Richard. But first it was Jane campion dragging them into her toxic feminist bs and now of all people Will Smith and toxic masculinity! And he gets the prize. I have nothing but sympathy for those women (and Jada).
I am so shocked and disappointed and hurt for everyone involved in that movie last night. I understand why Serena had to leave. To me, King Richard was the feel good movie of the season. I preferred it to CODA, which was good, but I was personally uplifted and inspired in a bigger way by King Richard. WTH? How was this allowed to happen and not addressed by the Academy during the show?
I don’t watch movies with physical violence because I feel every punch physically. I avoid violence big time, to both man and animal. I am pissed off at Will Smith for bringing violence into the evening–yes, he was hurt but he should have used his considerable skills as an orator and an actor to defend Jada. I didn’t get the joke at all in the first place. What a disaster.
I feel for them too, and everyone associated with the film. This moment is going to forever be associated with the film.
I’m a pop culture junkie and I had no idea Jada had alopecia until last night, when all this went down. I think because Jada and Will are so messy with their marriage that I tend to ignore her, ignore her interviews, etc. I honestly wonder if Chris Rock knew about her alopecia. But I can’t with anyone defending Will for that. And I cannot believe he was allowed to STAY after that, win an award, get up on stage to major applause and then talk about being a ‘vessel for love’.
Right? I didn’t realize Jada has alopecia until today. And I follow celeb news. So why assume that CR knew about it? Or whoever wrote the the joke knew about it?
It was a tired joke, but it didn’t warrant a slap at all.
Impact matters more than intent. Perhaps Chris Rock and his writers can do some research before cracking certain types of jokes. This man made a documentary about hair, he knows the sensitivities and he still went there.
I think there may be SOME possibility that Chris Rock and/or whoever wrote the joke didn’t know she has alopecia, since I’m not the only one in this thread who had no idea.
However, it’s probably more likely than not that Chris knew since he actually is involved in Hollywood and it’s probably not worth trying to defend him on that by positing innocence.
I will say that I am a “scours the Internet” person and have seen nothing as yet as to whether or not Chris and/or writers knew about the alopecia, though.
YES. Why did they let him stay and give a speech?? Regardless of how you feel about what Will Smith did or what Chris Rock said, neither of them should’ve been seen on camera for the rest of the ceremony.
Letting WS stay like nothing had happened *absolutely* reads like the producers of the show condoning his choice to get up there and hit CR. And then his whole speech was just so messed up. I get that maybe he doesn’t regret what he did, but the image of someone justifying their violent actions as motivated by ‘love’ is gross and not one we need.
This is not the first time Will has slapped someone on camera, in anger.
He also slapped a reporter, after the reporter kissed him.
Twice, is a pattern. Justify it however, twice is a pattern of reaction. The auto response to hit out physically as wll as with words.
It’s not ok to hit people.
My thoughts are with those who’s night should have been triumphant, & and who were witness to assault. It’s violence, it’s shocking, it’s traumatic.
As for Will not being removed immediately, for assaulting someone?
Mistake there. We all witnessed someone being assaulted and no one did anything.
There are no perfect victims, ever. The joke was written, & agreed upon by the people in charge. Many people need to look at their choices, from the people who wrote the line, those that okayed it, & the those that let Chris stand there alone after being assaulted.
Nothing about what happened is ok. Nothing about it should be normalized.
The person he punched is a troll who’s whole shtick is sexually assaulting celebrities.
That person was literally a troll who goes around randomly kissing people. He deserved it, and so does Chris.
Violence is never okay, but my God you do not talk about a black woman’s hair. Ever. Especially if there is very little she can do with it. I feel for everyone involved, especially Jada.
I was bullied as a child and well into my teens because of my hair by other black people (I’m not being racist here. Just stating a fact. Chris is black and made a joke about a black woman’s hair. Growing up I as a black woman was bullied by other black people because of my hair.) My family was poor and we just didn’t have the money for expensive upkeep, so I walked through the world “nappy headed” until I was a sophomore. This stuff cuts deep. I wanted to cry when I saw what happened.
People, my friends and family, knew I was bullied and no one ever came to my defense. Will wasn’t right to engage in violence but he came to the defense of a loved one when not many people would. Will is right… you’re expected to just sit there and take it. You’re expected to be okay with it. No one should have to.
I’m sorry you dealt with that. Absolutely Chris used his position to bully Jada and try to humiliate her. He wasn’t joking around with her.
Now I’m crying. It’s never ok to humiliate someone…NEVER. I’m sorry that happened to you and I’m sorry it happened to Jada. Not only did Chris humiliate her the audience (her peers) laughed at the humiliation.
“Will is right… you’re expected to just sit there and take it. You’re expected to be okay with it. No one should have to.”
I totally agree, but Will was supposed to SPEAK UP for her instead of ASSAULT for her.
He could have gone up, taken the microphone and said exactly what you have said here. “Please do not talk so disrespectfully about my wife, especially about such a sensitive topic because it is very hurtful, please apologise”. If he had done that he would have gotten a standing ovation and Rock would have been shamed deeply.
But did he? No, his gut response was to resolve a problem with violence, not words.
P.S. Actually I don’t want to take away her agency by saying her husband is supposed to do anything for her, she could have done it herself if she had felt the need to. She obviously chose to roll her eyes and express her distaste as a response, and that’s her choice. Maybe Will should have just let her make her own decisions about the matter. I hate it when men take away the voice of women about an issue that pertains to the woman in question.
Also notice how it’s always the man’s response to resort to violence, never the woman’s.
Peak toxic masculinity. It was a joke – in poor taste, yes, most definitely. Just to remind those who watched, and for those who did not – Will Smith laughed at the joke. That was his first instinct – to laugh. Only when Jada was shown not amused did he get up and open-palmed slapped Chris Rock. It was never about defending Jada. Jada does not need defending. She was not in immediate danger. She even has her own platform to castigate Chris Rock over this. It was all about Will Smith trying to cover-up his embarrassment of laughing at a joke at the expense of his wife’s alopecia. Will knew he was going to win, he could have used that opportunity to clapback at Chris Rock. Him and his wife have a very huge platform to skewer Chris Rock. Especially after winning the Oscar. Without that slap, am sure social media would have talked about the joke. But no, Will Smith had to appear, all big and manly and oh so macho to defend his wife’s “honor”. Please stop feeding into this trope. The worst of this is that Will Smith took away an opportunity for the Williams Sisters to celebrate and be celebrated.
This take upsets me because it must be coming from people who have never been the subject of public cruelty. I am telling you your body forces you to laugh, while your mind is just beginning to whirl. And then your mind settles, and you are NOT laughing.
Please do not assume to know me and my experiences. So do not take for granted what i do or do not know about public cruelty. We are talking of this public incident a lot of people witnessed. Let’s take for granted that Will’s laugh is born of shock . . . you have seen him laugh at the other jokes at their expense and at other celebrities’ expense, too. Public cruelty? He is a millionaire a hundred times over and a big movie star being roasted. He is so beyond out of touch with what even common Black & POCs experience and for so long, he says uncomfortable statements in interviews. He knows the drill that big stars get roasted in awards shows. Should we now all expect slapping in awards shows from hereon?
So rich people can’t be subjected to cruelty? That’s what people who say cruel things on celebrity’s social media accounts believe. I do not share in this belief.
Chris Rock said “Jada, I love you. GI Jane 2, can’t wait to see you,” If you’re not familiar, GI Jane is a movie about a badass woman starring Demi Moore. Who, just like Jada looks beautiful with a buzz cut. Now, is this “joke” (if one can even call it that) worth slapping someone over? He is comparing her to GI Jane. He could have compared her to Lex Luthor, Dr. Evil or some other iconic bald character but he chose to compare her to GI Jane. Where is the public cruelty in that?
kif, you don’t get it.
@Merricat – this is without any snark. which don’t i get? did will smith not display toxic masculinity? did he not went up the stage to slap chris rock because to show him he was the more masculine man, wife-honor defender? if you watched the incident, jada rolled her eyes at chris rock. she was disdainful of him. she would have fully trashed him in her next red table. she is not a wilting flower, on the verge of tears needing her husband’s defense of her. so they can’t say that will smith saw how hurt she was and overcome by rage stormed the stage to slap chris rock. my point is, will smith slapping chris rock was never about defending jada. just like all toxic masculinity displays, it was more about his fragile male ego.
Kif, Chris Rock has a long, long history of making demeaning jokes about Black women for white or mostly white audiences. This was not a compliment to Jada.
Remember Chris Rock is also someone with a history of transphobic comments. G.I. Jane is not a badass to him, but an unwomanly woman. He was suggesting Jada was unwomanly and he was attacking her hair specifically which is a huge insult due to the deeply racist context for Black women’s hair in this country.
I feel for everyone involved but mostly for Jada Pickett Smith. She did not deserve this but it’s just another example of how Black women are expected to smile and be quiet and put up with endless cruelty and micro-aggressions. And I’m guessing after a couple days of watching white men and women vehemently attack Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson while she was required to be purely diplomatic and calm and just sit there and take it for 15 hours or more a day, feelings were even rawer than usual. Someone wrote above that “no one would bat an eye if Cory Booker slapped Ted Cruz” and that is so wrong it’s almost laughable. Cory Booker would be vilified by the Republicans if he got angry at all, let alone struck a white person.
Cory Booker is one of the most positive and most polite people in Congress, (not that there is a lot of competition in Congress for being polite) and even still he gets attacked by Fox News and Republicans.
Okay, white woman here. 🙂 I’ve been reading & listening & super fascinated & have my psychological take to add to the convo. I think the stress of the biggest night of Will’s life caused him to “break” in such a way that he felt forced/had the opportunity to resolve the biggest unresolved psychological issue of his life: his self-perceived failure to defend his mother from his father. By defending Jada, he publicly fulfilled that need & was rewarded for it. That explains his speech, behavior afterward, feeling of being on top of the world etc. The psychological stresses of that night must have been enormous. Anyway, I know nothing & cannot comment on the rest, but thought I’d add my bit.
Chris Rock needs to apologize to Jada. He wasn’t joking with her, he was treating her with contempt and disrespect in front of a world-wide audience over a medical condition.
He would never have done that to a white actress wife of a white actor who was a shoo in to win that night.
@Kalana , exactly this. And he knew exactly how deep the cut was because he has done a movie about black women`s hair. Think about all the other women (black or not) this hurt. Chris Rock needs to apologize.
He went for the kill with Jada and he knew exactly what he was doing. Being a bully.
I agree with those that say it’s a pattern. Things like this don’t happen in isolation. Will didn’t wake up today and suddenly think it’s ok to disrupt a worldwide broadcast to demand attention, yell and and beat someone on TV.
If this is how Will behaves in front of millions in broad daylight, you can imagine how he behaves when he thinks no-one is watching. I’m also concerned because he is trying to justify his behaviour as ‘love’ and god’s calling.
This is some next-level-Kanye losing his self-assessment and self-regulation capabilities.
Oof, you just can’t take men anywhere anymore, they’re too hormonal.
Saba, 100% agree. Watching this, I can’t help but make Kanye comparisons too. Will’s just another man with a bruised ego who takes it on himself to hit out.
It was an inappropriate joke and Chris Rock was out of line. But you know what? It’s the Oscars. There are always inappropriate jokes and someone is often out of line. You don’t assault someone on live tv. Will Smith made the night about that moment and not about his win, not about coda, not about Belfast and Branagh. It became “the night Will Smith hit Chris Rock”.
That is the saddest part of all. It should have been a great night.
This is no excuse but I definitely don’t think Rock intended the offence he caused by his joke or that it would be hurtful. I don’t think the edgy approach is really effective at the Oscars either.
I felt bad for Questlove, a pure soul who deserved his Oscar win without all these extra toppings. I recently listened to a podcast of Questlove interviewing Will Smith about his new book, which I haven’t read but I gather is a memoir. In the interview it was clear that Smith wrote about some heavy sh*t; both men talked about how a lot of Black families experience domestic violence that’s (I’m not going to get this right bc I’m paraphrasing what they were saying, which was already being expressed obliquely) expressed as concern/love/parental care. Both expressed how it took them until
Adulthood to understand it as abuse. I’m not here condoning Will Smith’s actions. But it’s easy to forget when someone like him has succeeded at so many things for so long that they can also be damaged people with real demons. I get why Sean Combs basically wants this to be memory-holed and I bet he’s not the only one.
Questlove has been my hero ever since he played “Lyin Ass B*tch” for Michelle Bachman’s appearance on Fallon. Happy for his Oscar!!
I love him for that too. Genius.
I’m sad his moment was overshadowed by this mess, but I hope he still feels joy and pride for his work and the award.
Stop making all these veiled comments that Smith is abusive. You don’t know that. My father punched a man in the face once for something he said to my mother right in front of my father. Right on our block. My brothers would do the same. I was never abused or made to feel unsafe in my home. Although this has fallen out of fashion, some men will step up to protect a woman even from “just” cruel words. It does not make them domestic abusers, and this is such a bad take. But a very fashionable one, I’ll give you that.
But here you are justifying violence and abuse. We know Smith is abusive and violent because we all saw him screaming and swearing at another man after he hit him in the face while he was doing his job.
You may not think you were affected as a child by what you described, but you’re bringing that experience and mindset into the present. ‘It’s ok and I’m not responsible if I hit people if I do it for love/family’. Classic domestic abuse justification as many commenters here have explained.
I believe that Will Smith (in the other incident you mention) was defending himself from a sexual assault, from a terrible person disguised as a journalist who went around forcibly kissing celebrities for notoriety. He has the right to defend his body from assault.
I never said I wasn’t affected by it. I learned that if that man hadn’t started none, wouldn’t be none. It’s a lesson that’s served me well. The guy also gave a great performance on the receiving end of “you gonna learn today”. And learn that day he did.
I’m still processing all this … it was shocking at the time and the only people who come out of this looking good are Denzel Washington, Tyler Perry and even Jada to a degree. Chris Rock, while behaving badly before, has handled the aftermath better — carrying on shakily with the award to Questlove, then laying low and not pressing charges. Let’s hope he stays that way; the last thing this situation needs is any more back and forth in public/SM/in interviews. Will Smith’s acceptance speech was awful to watch, and I personally struggle with his “protect the family” “love makes you do crazy things” excuses for assault and battery on live TV. If there’s anything good to come out of this, IMO it’s the heightened awareness of alopecia and its effects. Regardless, Jada looks badass and beautiful with a shaved head.
Am I the only one who thinks Will’s award needs to be rescinded? In my opinion, both of them should be banned from attending ever again.
The award isn’t for good behavior.
Actually, no. The academy has a code of conduct and they have already released a statement about not condoning violence.
If they stuck to that code of conduct, they’d have to rescind a LOT of Oscars.
They gave an award to Polanski, a convicted child rapist who left the US decades ago to avoid jail.
And Weinstein has many as well.
Let’s be serious here.
No the Oscar should not be taken back. Will won the award for his acting abilities. Why should it be rescinded because he did a stupid thing in slapping Chris “I deserved it” Rock.
Absolutely not. The Academy and their “morals” have given awards to all sorts of abusive/criminal men. All of them were serial abusers/criminals.
Will should not have done that but his actions were a reaction to Rock’s continuing abuse of Jada (Rock and Jada have an antagonistic history). It was a one time occurrence.
If the Academy isn’t going to sanction white men then they shouldn’t sanction non-white men.
The number of people cheering Will on is alarming- two things can be true 1) Chris Rock was totally being a jerk and 2) Will was totally out of line for assaulting him.
Excusing physical assault in the name of “love” or “honour” is straight up condoning abusive behavior and giving toxic masculinity a pass.
I think this is why I’m upset: Bc his speech made 100% worse. Everything he said is perpetuating what abusers say when they hurt you.
And I’m Afro Latina, know nothing about Jara’s condition and I am sure most people don’t. Not excusing Chris’s Jack ass joke. Just saying will triggered me in the worst way. Ugh so wrong on so many levels.
Brava OriginalLala! I completely agree. The joke was disgusting & terrible to say the least. HOWEVER, you don’t get to put hands on someone for saying something you don’t like. In addition, I have had a man hit me because “love made him do crazy things”. That excuse is unacceptable. The whole incident was triggering!
Thank you!
The people here justifying Will Smith going up on stage and smacking someone in the face over a stupid joke is ridiculous. The joke was offensive and rude but assaulting someone over a joke?
So any comedian who tells a bad, offensive joke deserves punching or slapping? Someone says something you don’t like so you can just run up and smack them? We’re now justifying physical assault because someone hurt our feelings?
If it was some random screenwriter or tech guy who ran up and smacked Chris Rock that person would have been thrown out of the arena and arrested.
If Will Smith can’t control his anger he shouldn’t be out in public. At the very least handle it in private and take it out to the parking lot and away from the public.
Hey I’ve been a fan of the fresh Prince since forever and have been waiting for him to get an Oscar since forever but he tainted his big night with this stupid behaviour. Everyone gets roasted at award shows, that’s just the way it is… now all everyone is gonna remember is the slap not the Oscar win 🤷
I don’t understand anyone saying “he had to defend his wife” hum, what? If my fiance did this I would be mortified and dump his ass. We’re not fucking fragile tulipes we can deal with bad/stupid jokes ourselves and Jada seemed to have made it pretty clear with the face she made when Chris did the joke. Will even laughed at it at first. It’s about ego and proving yourself, toxic masculinity
The only time physical violence is ok is in response to physical violence. If someone laid hands on me, I could see my husband responding in kind (actually, that did happen). But in response to mean words? Or even, a stupid joke? Nope.
it’s so subjective to your family/relationship…some value and appreciate chivalry others find offense. Having been in an awkward and uncomfortable position a time or two…i was thankful hubs had my back and stepped in for and with me…to rely on others isn’t weakness.
I would be okay with my husband standing up for me by making a comment, even giving a dead face glare, or holding my hand and walking out of theater. I would be mortified if he went up on stage and slapped someone on live TV in front of millions watching though. He needs to match my energy. If my energy, like Jada’s os rolled eyes and a look of disgust, then my husband making a look of disgust or a little comment is on par with that. Chris Rock even saw that Jada wasn’t amused and was responding to it. He knew immediately that his joke didn’t land with her and she was pissed about it, but then Will starts marching up on stage to slap him, and now it’s all about Will and his feelings. “I don’t like what you did to my wife and I feel like it deserves physical violence” is not really about Jada. Jada felt like the “joke” deserved a look of scorn and an eye roll. Will escalated it and now there’s hundreds of thousands of articles and clips and comments about the whole incident, including the “joke” being replayed over and over, people commenting about how maybe this is all her fault because they think she’s a cheater, and she has to deal with the fact that her husband did something illegal and embarrassing on TV to “protect her honor” when maybe she never wanted “her honor” protected like that and is also kind of pissed off about it. She’s going to be asked about this FOREVER. This is going to be the main memory of the night he husband won an Oscar FOREVER. Celebrations for her husband (and for her for supporting his career) are now going to be somewhat tainted by the fact that her family, friends, and coworkers all probably have their own differing opinions about this incident and some might be pissed or scared or shocked.
I would be totally fine with everyone knowing that my husband gives dirty looks to comedians who deliver dumb jokes about my hair, but I would not be totally fine with everyone knowing that my husband is ever violent when he’s upset.
Every year actors sit in that audience and get roasted. Will and Jada are no different. I am upset by Will’s actions. Before the slap I genuinely felt happy and excited for him to win an Oscar to top off his 30 year acting career. Now the slap will forever overshadow his triumphant moment. There were many ways for Will to defend Jada and address Chris’s disrespect but he chose the worst option. Violence was not the answer and his actions were not justified.
Will was right.
It’s really frightening to me how many people are defending violence. Do you know the difference between right and wrong? If not, let me help you out: Hitting people is wrong.
Agree @AmyBee. Chris is just like the black men who sit on social media all day every day and do nothing but disparage black women, often as they uplift women of other races. I want someone to give me just one example of a comedian going after the looks of any white woman like Rock did. They can always comfortably take potshots at the most ‘disrespected, unprotected person in America’.
As for me, I’m going to concentrate on Will’s track record of looking out for marginalised black actresses eg, Octavia Spencer, Anjanue Ellis, etc
Yeah, a lot of “good” Will did for the Williams sisters with his actions. Took the spotlight away from them on what should have been their night. The movie will now only be viewed through the lens of this incident. No wonder they left the auditorium. But sure, Will is this great defender of black women. Let’s go with that.
I’m really over hearing “tasteless jokes are just the way it goes at the Oscars”’. This is a work function for actors. Next time your co-worker makes a joke about your medical condition, home life, child, sexuality, don’t complain to HR, just know “that’s the way it goes.”
She has a publicly acknowledged auto-immune disease. A disease. Chris Rock intentionally went after Jada under the guise of “a joke” and he got handed a consequence. I wish Will hadn’t done it for his own sake but I don’t feel bad for Chris Rock at all.
Complaining to HR is protocol. It’s expected. Assault is not. You honestly can’t equate the two?????
The “it’s just the way it is” excuse for enabling verbal abuse at a workplace function (a roasting everyone agrees to beforehand, here not going to the Oscar’s isn’t a choice when it’s so important for performance careers to see and be seen, plus the right to enjoy accolades in peace) doesn’t hold water when the same people saying that in this situation would never be okay with it at their own place of employment.
The second paragraph is me saying Chris Rock had it coming to him. Nothing to do with it being work related. He acted like an ass and there are consequences. Sometimes a bigger jerk finds you.
If I crossed the line with a dumb joke at work, I would expect a meeting with HR, not getting slapped in front of the whole company!
Will needed to let it go at the moment – not ruin Questloves amazing win – and take it up with Rock later. Smith could’ve worked with the Academy to condem Rock’s joke publicly. He probably could’ve raised money and awareness for alopecia and come out of this with dignity and class.
Read down thread. The “tradition” of publicly humiliating the Oscar’s audience isn’t sitting well with more than just me.
Again, for Will’s sake, I wish he hadn’t done it.
The joke was mean and hurtful. Will should not have punched rock, but I can understand he felt provoked. That said, I would like to look as beautiful as Jada, with or without hair.
It’s really easy to tell that most commenters on this site are WHITE WHITE WHITE.
Amazing to see all these white women on here clutching their pearls and giving their take on things as well.
Always giving your opinions when it is not warranted, instead of listening and learning about the various nuisances from Black women.
The most violent people on the planet telling others that violence is not the answer. Laughable.
I’m allowed to give my opinion on physical assault.
What about me? A black woman who thinks will was completely out of line. Been called nappy and all. Do I pass this test? Violence isn’t the answer in my opinion. I think this is a nuanced situation and everyone is entitled to their reaction. Maybe if he hadn’t done it in front of the world it would be different. He could’ve used his position to make a point. Yes passion and all that but I absolutely expected more from a showbiz veteran. There’s no excuse even if Rock was out of line.
White women are the most violent people on the planet? I don’t think so. I have a right to express my thoughts on this. As a woman, the potential violence men can inflict has been a concern for me since I was a pre-teen. Watching it happen on live TV was unsettling. The joke was cruel and unnecessary, but that did not make it ok to get up there and smack the jokester. That would be true if Smith were white and/or female, too.
Came here to say this! As someone who isn’t Black, it’s gross to me how many non Black people are chiming in about this! We do not always need to give our hot take!
It depends on the subject matter. I know what it’s like to be bullied for appearing but it was because of bright orange hair & freckles as a kid. It’s not the same as being black. I don’t know what it’s like to have black hair despite having wavy hair. If this was just about black women’s hair, then no we do need to listen. But it’s also about Will Smith’s response to an insult which transcends race. This happens everyday in the white community, too. From the your momma jokes, to people flipping tables in restaurants over minor aggressions to soccer, hockey dads yelling, threatening & hitting referees at games. Or the anti-covid crowd swarming town meetings…So there’s definitely a perspective.
Could you please clarify your statement? It reads that you think white people are more averse to physical violence and threatening outbursts. Is this more acceptable to other groups of people? Is this a generalization you want to make?
I think Soni and ALS are referencing the obliviousness many white poeple have to the persistent denigration of black women and their appearnce in mianstaeam media. Black women are the bottom of the bauty standard and have historically always been the butt of the joke. I’m glad Mr. Smith stood up for his wife and, in doing so, stood up for countless black women who are pilloried for not not confomring. I doubt Chris Rock would have made fun of the appearance of some white actor’s wife. His choice to poke fun of Jada and intimate that her bald hair makes her “manly” is significant.
@TW….that’s not what I wrote. No where did I suggest there was aversion to violence in the white community. What I wrote was that you see it everyday to people responding to minor insults by flipping tables in restaurants ( which I witnessed), referees getting assaulted at sports games by parents, anti-covid crowds surrounding township & school board members at meetings and assaulting members. People are reacting to minor things with violence. So I wrote I can give a perspective on violence in my own community & how I was bullied as a kid. What I can’t give a perspective on is black women’s hair despite having wavy hair & problems with my own hair.
I’m listening (and otherwise keeping my mouth shut)
I was impressed by the elders who stepped in to counsel Will, Denzel, Tyler Perry, Bradley Cooper, probably more than just those. Good on them.
Did you just call Bradley cooper an elder? On the likes of Denzel? WHAT?
I could redact and say veterans instead. Denzel, Tyler Perry and Cooper all talked/counseled. And of course Denzel has no equal. People who love Will stepped in to talk.
Too bad none of them escorted Will out.
Will is 50. Not a kid.
I mean, Chris was DEFINITELY wrong. Will was both wrong and right? 🫣
Sometimes people are pushed to the limit and snap. I think most get WHY it happened, but can still be conflicted that it DID happen.
Remember how we discussed, on this very site, the comments he made about their marriage would come back to haunt him at the wrong time.
These ‘jokes’ were not made because a expose from a tabloid came out.
Smith screwed the pooch the minute he said. He is not stupid, he has been at enough of these shows to know the score. Why did he think he was going to be any different when he was a frontrunner the entire award season.
Him going away needs to be done. I noticed that he was not backstage with the other acting winners or doing interviews.
Does Rock deserves an apology, yes, I think he does. This was not a off the cuff remark done in private. He came and did what he was suppose to do, whether we like it or not.
More importantly….Does Jada deserve an apology?
She does.
Chris was already piling on to a gag that should have stopped or never should have happened. And this is not the 1st time he has done it, I just learned.
He was the result of ‘found out’.
Honest question: Would it make a difference in anyone’s opinion if Chris Rock was, or wasn’t, aware about Jada’s alopecia?
Actually yeah, because if Chris Rock and/or the writer of the joke wasn’t aware of it, then they were making a shitty mistake instead of a deliberate insult. Which is to say that I’d only be calling Will out for jerkiness instead of both of them.
I actually thought somewhat that maybe Chris didn’t know because I sure didn’t. But if she’s been out since 2018 with the problem and he works in Hollywood, he’s more likely to have heard about it than me, and there’s no point in trying to defend anyone anyway.
So far I’ve seen no evidence or anyone saying they did or didn’t know about the alopecia, though.
I’m not here for the narrative that Jada is to blame for a grown man’s actions. I might as well ignore the internet for the next week because the excuses that will be made for Will Smith is going to be unbearable. I’m not here for Chris’s tasteless jokes either but those who say Chris deserved it better have the same energy for other offensive comedians.
Chris rock has needed to be slapped for a long time. Remember when he and Louis CK were joking about being n****rs? https://twitter.com/exavierpope/status/1508343486873063427
If Will Smith hadn’t slapped Chris Rock I’d never even had know that joke existed. I knew nothing about the Oscars and had hoped to keep it that way. I’d be so pissed at my husband for assaulting someone to “protect” me from a stupid joke. I can take care of myself, don’t need a man to throw hands over words from an idiot, and it’s just never ok to hit someone unless in defense of immediate personal safety.
I think that nowadays has fall out of fashion for men to defend the “woman’s honour” and things like that but, if someone says something similar to me, I am sure my husband would also snap. Violence is not the answer and jokes are jokes but this was not a joke, mocking her for something that came after a serious medical condition is out of line, rude and offensive.
I hope that BOTH men apologise for their acts. Will Smith is an idol for a lot of people, even kids and this was not a good example. (but I love what he did, even if it was wrong, can’t help it….)
Will could have easily defended Jada’s honor when he accepted the best actor award or after during the winner’s press Q&A. All eyes would have been on him because it was his moment to use how he wanted. Now he has to live with this act of violence overshadowing his big win. There’s no honor in that, imo.
How was he supposed to know that he was going to win the Best Actor Award?
He won every best actor award leading up to the Oscars and he was the presumed winner. Everyone in that room knew he was the favorite to win.
😅
I’d rather say Chris Rock took a cheap shot at Jada. His ‘joke’ about Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz was so cringeworthy. I haven’t paid attention to Chris Rock in a decade so I wonder if he has always been condescending to women?
That said Will Smith committed assault and should have been escorted out of the building. BTW, Jada looked beautiful.
Chris has been problematic for a long and while I wish Will had talked this over with Chris after the show, I’m also not surprised that someone snapped on him.
Will might have humiliated his wife doing this. If Chris Rock knows her hair was short because of a medical conditions he was being a horrible jerk. But if I was at a party that was televised and a guy made a rude joke about my hair and my husband lost it and ran up and Bitch-slapped him then started screaming at him like a drunk sorority girl at Spring Break I would be horrified and pissed at my husband!
Maybe Will isn’t the sweet guy we all have been led to believe? It he is just having some real issues right now? Maybe they should stop talking publicly about every intimate detail about their private life if he is so sensitive.
I feel for Serena and Venus. Will’s actions hurt many women indirectly. This Oscar will be remembered only for his uncontrolled violence , not all of the men and women who worked so hard to win awards.
And Chris Rock? Everyone already knew he was a jerk, that is why he didn’t press charges, he knew he had it coming to him…
“Maybe Will isn’t the sweet guy we all have been led to believe?”
This is the part that’s most puzzling to me. Will Smith has always had an iron grip on his professional reputation. For decades he’s branded himself as this wholesome movie star with the giant smile and legit acting skills. He’s literally minutes away from finally getting the acclaim and recognition he seemed to be forever chasing, and he’s suddenly willing to burn it all down.
This sort of reckless, impulsive behavior is what you expect from the Kanye’s of the world. Kanye rushes the stage at an inappropriate time to steal the limelight with zero care for the consequences? Of course. But Will Smith? Not sure if his image ever recovers. Congrats, this is your Oprah couch-jumping moment.
Molly, I’m wondering if this isn’t symptomatic of a midlife crisis. His autobiography caused him to drag up a lot of painful stuff success and work have helped him run from. The stress of that and awards season and getting a long-wanted goal must be crushing. As well, if he down deep doesn’t believe he’s worthy of success, well…That said, both men were idiots for what they did.
Will is REALLY reminding me of when Tom Cruise went off the rails. He’s gotten a lot more drama and messy over the last few years and frankly, maybe he isn’t the nice guy we thought he was. Or he’s lost that lovin’ feeling. Or it’s midlife crisis. But right now, he isn’t doing so hot.
‘Love will make you do crazy things’ is outrageous. I would say self-importance or showing off mad him do crazy things.
There’s no excuse for what Will did. Comedians make jokes, sometimes they go too far. He could’ve spoken to Chris backstage about it. Watching Will assault this many on live TV and then try to justify it in his speech was horrifying to watch. Everyone in the after show broadcasts was making excuses for him and acting like he apologized for his actions (he did NOT specifically do this).
If Kanye, or anyone less-liked — Russell Crowe, Sean Penn, etc. — did this, there would be zero people defending their behavior under any circumstance. Appalling behavior that overshadowed the entire night.
One other thing I wanted to add — Jada may have truly been hurt by what Chris said and I’m sorry if that was painful her. But if you isolate what Chris said…it was barely offensive? He was saying that she was rocking the bald look and looked like a cool military lady (while sporting a dress that was Army green and fashioned almost like a military jacket). That’s why he looked puzzled that she wasn’t laughing and that Will freaked out. I definitely didn’t take it as him being mean about her hair, idk. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t offensive, just that I really didn’t find it so in the moment and was also shocked at the reaction.
Also, I heard on the radio that one of the hosts spoke with Chris Rock last night after the incident and that Chris Rock was not aware of her alopecia. I wasn’t either until this whole thing happened. I’m really glad Chris Rock handled the aftermath as well as he did but am embarrassed for the Williams family, and even Will Smith and his family. I hope he sincerely apologizes to Chris Rock.
The same Sean Penn who still gets nominated for Oscars in spite of a long history of domestic violence?
Please!
@Haylie I’m not talking about the Academy’s response. They have a long history of supporting abusive men. I’m talking about the general public’s response. If it were anyone less beloved as Will Smith, there’d be no “gray area” online discussion of his violence being justified.
See also: Clint Eastwood
Maybe there needs to be a review to examine whether it is needful to get a laugh at someone else’s expense. Why is it necessary to make jokes about people at an award show? Stand up, introduce people, tell who is up for the award and announce the winners. No need for stupid jokes and an over-long show.
You are the voice of sanity equality. I 100% agree with you. Please stop with these “jokes” at the Oscars. Just stop it all together.
This part. I thought people learned after cracking jokes about Chadwick Boseman’s appearance for years before we learned he had cancer, but here we are.
I agree. The producers of these award shows should use what happened last night as a prime example of why they should stop or at least minimize roasting at award shows. We live in a social media world where celebrities are constantly being judged and criticized for every little thing. It has become part of the norm. Since social media changed the landscape maybe it’s time to end the jokes at other people’s expense at these award shows. Even though I don’t agree with Will’s actions, it’s obvious his emotions reached a tipping point and he admitted as much in his acceptance speech.
Thank you for saying this. Crass, tasteless jokes at the expense of others is totally unnecessary and needs to stop. Maybe “the great slap” will make comedians pause and stop their awful behavior of targeting people with their “ humor.”
+1
Thank you for the common sense. This is the Oscar’s, not a roast. This is such a strange trend, and it’s run its course, hopefully. It’s bad form to comment about a woman’s appearance like this.
My son, who is in grade 10, just sent me a text with a picture of an article about this incident being displayed on the white board at the front of his class. They are discussing it as part of his English class! If it’s making it in to kids’ classroom discussions, I’d say that it definitely overshadowed anything else that happened that night, including Will Smith’s own win.
He said the general consensus of the class was that Will Smith is too rich to care about consequences.
My kids too share the same sentiment: if you are rich you can act anyway you like. It’s like money is the permission slip to condone bad behavior – whether a bad driver or just being a jerk to someone. We somewhere and somehow got lost as a society if this is the message our children are learning.
This. I saw a tweet from a lawyer that said something to the extent of another day having to explain to his client why he is prosecuted for the doing the same thing a rich person got away with. If will smith wasn’t will smith the outcome would have been different.
Eh I think it should’ve happened at the after party and not on stage. Will should apologize when Chris does🤷🏽♀️
I’d pay good money to see Prince Harry slap Prince William over his mistreatment of Meghan.
same and it’d be 1000% deserved.
What dose this have to do with Harry or William ??
Stop bringing these people in to every conversation that has nothing to with them. Your and others obsession with them is completely out of hand.
I don’t condone what he did at all! In the beginning, you can see that Will was clearly laughing and Jada didn’t look pleased with Chris Rock’s comments which led him to get up and do the unthinkable. There is a dynamic in their marriage and something is not right no matter how red carpets or appearances that they make as a couple.
I’m torn on this- absolutely violence is not the answer. On the other hand, it’s clear as day that the joke/Jada’s reaction was the final straw and that Will just snapped. I don’t follow her and even I know it’s a medical condition, that’s never ok to joke about, and to expect them to just sit there and laugh along is insane. But one incident does not an abuser make. People seem hell-bent on turning Will into an abusive angry black man who should have his entire life ruined, and I just do not agree with that. Everyone has a breaking point. It’s not like this is how Will commonly reacts to jokes at his and Jada’s expense, he usually is a good sport.
Both men were in the wrong. Will chose the wrong time and place to slap Chris Rock. Will should have handled this business offstage. That said, no one knows what history there is between Chris Rock and Will and Jada. IMO, for Will to commit such a drastic action, he apparently snapped and had had enough. Chris Rock is a misogynistic, unfunny, cruel person and is always telling tasteless jokes, especially at the expense of black women, so I don’t have a problem with Chris getting slapped (Will did not punch him). It just wasn’t the time or place for Will to do so.
Will Smith should have just yelled “keep my wife’s name out of your f-ing mouth” a couple of times like he did after he slapped Chris rock. That would have been enough without hitting Chris rock. He would have put him in his place without getting violent.
100%
I like that idea
This is not the first Oscar where Chris Rock made incredibly rude jokes about Jada. Enough already.
I thought it was a stunt at first. Will was laughing and Jada just rolled her eyes, there was no indication he would jump up and smack him. If it wasn’t a stunt then yeah, it totally overshadowed Will’s win and his moment. Maybe there is more to it than just this joke, like something behind the scenes between those two that’s been going on for a long time. Whatever it was, they should have kept it off stage.
That’s what shocked me, was the last shot of the Smith’s was Jada rolling her eyes and Will laughing at the joke, then they went back to Chris and the next thing was Will coming on stage, I really thought the whole thing was staged until they went silent with the audio and you could see Will screaming stuff in anger at Rock and then when it came back on Rock was definitely ready to get off the stage.
Will was quite unstable last night. Laughing one second being violent the next then weeping and needing to be comforted by none other than Denzel and Bradley Cooper. That is the real Will Smith I guess.
It was Seth Macfarlane. He is the one who sang a whole song about whose naked breasts he had seen at the Oscars. This was just prior to the MeToo movement. I was so angry. And you know what? If someone had gotten up and smacked him that night, and someone should have, maybe some lessons woulda been learned that night. I don’t find degrading and humiliating women to be funny, sorry.
I remember that bit being pre-taped (you can see the actresses in that clip are wearing different outfits to what they are during the telecast). So bizarrely this wasn’t just a Seth McFarlance choice – the show producers and the actresses willingly took part in that crap.
I’m disgusted by a lot of things. The fact Will wasn’t escorted out of the building after ASSAULTING someone. The fact they gave him EXTRA time for his acceptance speech, and the fact he got a f*cking standing ovation. If he had slapped a woman the response would have been totally different. Will needs help. He’s going through some sh*t it seems. All that talk about “protecting” women was bullsh*t. Women don’t need men to protect them. His wife is a bad a$$ woman who can protect herself if need be.
Now there’s some buzz that the Oscar producers are saying the joke was not “approved” and they are ticked off with Rock.
I said this earlier. Chris was a Presenter not a Host. His job was to read the tele-a-promoter.
I didn’t think anyone at the Oscar’s would have approved this joke and I don’t know why folks keep saying Rock was a host.
I wish everyone had booed Chris off the stage for his tasteless “joke” and that was the end of it. I remember when he did an entire show about how women change their hair and I was like, mind your business, we can do what we want with our hair. I don’t know if he knew Jada has alopecia or not, but seriously, stop. It’s not hurting anyone to change our hair, leave us alone. We deal with enough bs.
For some men the mere existence of women is hurtful and inconvenient.
First of all I get that Jada was upset and sensitive about her hair loss. But the GI Jane/Demi Moore in her prime comparison was not really an insult. Moore was beautiful and badass and sexy in GI Jane. I would fully support the yelling and cursing at Chris Rock for hurting his wife’s feelings but to get up and hit someone as a grown man is not ok. Then for Will to get up and cry and say God had placed him on a difficult path…Like no… he’s been a millionaire since his teen years whereas most people are scraping by paycheck to paycheck. Does he realize how that sounds? He lives a charmed life by any standard. Chris was rude and said something hurtful and Will overreacted and made himself look bad then made a very tone deaf speech and was applauded for it. All of those things can be true at once.
Even though you may not be inclined I suggest reading/listening to the audiobook about Will’s life. No, he hasn’t had a charmed life. He grew up in a home with abuse. He also had massive guilt growing up about not protecting his mother from domestic abuse. He actually went broke at one point before Fresh Prince and had a fear of not providing for his family.
Who are you to determine what’s really an insult or not?
Chris made a whole documentary on the struggle black women have with their hair, and he chose to grab the low hanging fruit of a woman with a medical condition. I’d rather see someone handle it like Will did over someone who handles it like Ted Cruz.
This is why I thought this situation may have more layers than white people like me may understand?
Yes, Good Hair! I thought about that too when I heard about the joke. 🤔
Yes, there also the video circulating where Chris sits with two so called Comedians who are white laughing at using the N word on stage. Seinfeld is like you guys shouldn’t be saying this and Chris is like that’s how we talk on stage. The entire discussion was vile. So yes, there is a lot of stuff going on in the background for a lot of folks about Chris Rock.
This is the video:
https://ew.com/tv/2018/12/23/louis-ck-ricky-gervais-chris-rock-n-word-2011-video/
I realize in the moment this would have been hard to do, but one of the best things I’ve ever heard when someone says something like Chris Rock said, or something racist/sexist/ageist/ableist is to calmly put them on the spot – “why is that funny?” I don’t think Chris could have answered that if that’s what Will had yelled at him. There isn’t an acceptable answer and then Chris would just be sitting there looking especially dumb in his hateful stupidity. Again, totally get that’s easier said than done when you’re upset, and clearly they weren’t prepared for the so-called “joke”. My son is on the spectrum and gets bullied a lot and it usually shuts them down if he can stay calm enough to use it – because, it was never funny.
The joke basically just amounted to “hey look, jada is bald.” Which is hardly a joke, even, it’s just an inane comment. Her being bald isn’t even a new or noteworthy thing, she’s kept her hair like this for years and I had no idea she had alopecia.
I feel like her response of rolling her eyes and not laughing was pretty much just about how lame and unfunny it was. I don’t think she looked particularly humiliated and hurt. I think she looked like “that’s dumb and obvious.” Sort of like “okaaaaayy, and??”
It was a throw away, nothing line, and it was about the wife of the guy who was about to win an Oscar, and those are the people who are usually “joked” about, he just did it before the GI Jane joke with the other couple up for awards, so I think that’s why he chose her to “joke” about. I bet he thought it was safer than a joke about their marriage and wasn’t likely to get him in trouble. He didn’t even seem like he thought it was a particularly special joke, it’s not that funny and it’s not particularly shocking or biting in the way that comedians get away with roasting people, it was honestly just “Jada is bald and wearing army green like GI Jane.”
“Why is that funny?” would’ve been the prefect response.
Oh are we defending and not condemning quite likely child groomer Jada Pinkett Smith now. Oh okay.
22 isn’t a child.
And to think no one ever hit Ricky Gervais. You don’t answer physically to some terrible joke made verbally. I do think less of Will Smith now.
Someone should have hit Ricky.
Of the two I would’ve thought Ricky would’ve been on the receiving end of some anger backstage or at a party after the globes but this? It just doesn’t make sense and I’m thinking will took out something else on Chris rock last night. It was one joke too many about her, their marriage etc
Okay.
I found it so odd that the show just continued so normally after that. There were a million people on stage during the Moonlight/La La Land debacle trying to figure out what to do and here there wasn’t a show executive or security in sight. He wasn’t removed, didn’t cut to commercial, no one from the production walked over to talk to him, etc.
YEAH, exactly this. He sat down and continued his behavior with obscenities. And the show went on. There is just so much wrong with all of this. No matter which angle you try to touch on this, you get your hands dirty.
Black women can’t feel pain and a black man surely can’t try and protect her or defend her from pain.
Not by assaulting someone.
Male on male violence is more common than male on female! Both are not ok. I am tired of this being accepted because it’s two men. Its why bullying, locker room intimdation, etc are so common. Its scary being a boy. No one has the right to attack anyone. Let’s do better.
Read the majority of these comments.
The joke was not OK. Jada was not pleased. But Jada can deal with it on her own. This sends the message that men can use violence on behalf of women, and this sets back feminism.
It is not OK to respond with violence.
There is no justification for violence. None. In any circumstance, other than to defend against violence itself, to save one’s life.
And then he spoke of “love.” A bunch of privileged men out of touch with reality.
Yes. He should have responded to Jada and asked HER what he could do to help.
Will Smith grew up in a family where his dad beat his mother. He’s grown up feeling like a coward for not protecting his mum, even though he was only a kid at the time. This has dogged him throughout his life, if you read his autobiography. As I see it, he was protecting his woman. Not in the right way. But I understand.
I wrote this too. I think it was a triggered reaction that goes back to childhood when he didn’t defend his mother. Obviously there’s a lot of trauma that he hasn’t fully processed. And he lost it – it wasn’t a rational response but it was that emotional, white hot reaction we have when something pushes our buttons.
Unpopular opinion time. If Chris Rock wants to joke about a woman’s illness/disease/sickness/appearance on a global platform…he should expect these types of actions taken toward him. What people aren’t thinking about is Will has seen Jada cry, be depressed and curse the wind over what she has to deal with her diagnosis and to see her upset and embarrassed in front of the world, he lashed out. I’d be shocked if someone’s partner wouldn’t lash out. I would defend my husband and kids to the death. Honestly, I’m shocked shit like this hasn’t happened in the past.
Okay that being said, what I wish would have happened is that he stormed the stage and yelled what he yelled from his chair, at his face.
Agree. I trust the two of them to know what her hair loss means to her in private. I also wasn’t clear from the telecast that she only made faces at Rock over it because they cut away, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all if the brave face dropped a little in light of an entire auditorium chuckling at
her personal struggle. And yet I also wish he had handled it differently, for her sake and for his own.
For all the “but GI Jane is a badass”, it matters what that comment would mean to Jada as a woman of color suffering hair loss, not how many other ways it might be interpreted later. And Rock seemed to know how it would land because he immediately tried to deflect, saying it was a nice one.
One of the reasons why I don’t like stand up comedy is the fact there are always jokes made at other peoples expense and misfortune. These award shows are centred on the presenters making fun of the celebs sat in the audience, which I would hate if I was there. I think it’s only funny when the person is actually in on the joke and they can play along. Otherwise it’s just plain awkward to see someone pretend to laugh off a joke made at their expense.
I think if a joke is being made about someone then they should atleast be told in advance, then they can consent to it, be prepared for it and play along if they wish. Maybe that’s what will happen moving forward, to avoid another on stage assault. No comedian or presented would feel safe onstage after that, so maybe it will now make them think twice about what they say. But these award shows love chaos and humiliating guests doesn’t seem to be a concern to them.
I don’t care for Jada or Will Smith at all, but Rock humiliated her for a medical condition on TV and internationally.
The pearl clutching is ridiculous, tt was a slap not a beat down. Smith and Rock should both apologize and move on.
The one good thing that may come out of this is more attention paid to alopecia and how it affects the victims in terms of their lifestyle and bullying. JPS is a gorgeous woman who can make it work, not all women (or men) are that lucky.
“The pearl clutching is ridiculous, tt was a slap not a beat down”
100%. You now have white women claiming Will Smith is a symbol of all that is wrong in this world. That’s how you know WW have lost the plot.
Pearl clutching? Will Smith is a violent, self-indulgent lunatic. What he did is crazy. And the yelling and then crying during his speech. I doubt that everyone trying to play this down would be so brave if a 6 foot man screamed obscenities at them and gave a full arm open fist punch in the face just because that man didn’t like what they said. Don’t even try to play this down.
I cannot even roll my eyes hard enough at this melodramatic response.
i was thinking about what would have happened if JADA herself would have stormed up on stage and slapped Chris.
What kind of conversation would we be having this morning.
I think we would be having the same conversations with the addition of, “Why did Jada have to defend herself when her husband was there?”
Right? Jada would be OVER, and people would be on any sympathizer like rabid dogs on a cat.
Her career would be over. Will’s will be fine.
Chris Rock is an unfunny dick. Apparently, Will Smith is also a dick.
Jokes are 1st Amendment rights to free speech. Assault is a crime. Chris Rock has a legal right to be not funny. Will Smith does not have a legal right to be a criminal.
This was battery, not an assault, and if Chris Rock wanted to press charges, he would. He doesn’t seen to want to, so calm down with the “crime” stuff? Your last sentence is amazing and strange.
Serious question for those defending Will Smith – who decides which jokes are slap worthy?
Love as a permission slip for violence is chilling.
whew yes
Chris Rock should not have made the joke. Will Smith should not have smacked him on national tv. I don’t know what to say beyond that. I wish Will had done anything but struck him.
The most annoying thing about this situation is that the movie King Richard is about the father of the Williams sisters.
Hollywood couldn’t find a way to tell the story of the greatest athlete of all time across all sports, but they found a way to give credit to her father, as the man involved.
Toxic masculinity all around!
Serena and venus are executive producers on the movie. Their father’s story is the one they wanted to tell.
Of course it’s messed up, inappropriate, technically assault, etc. But I could not stop laughing at Chris rock being slapped on live tv for saying something he shouldn’t have said. I must have watched it 10 times.
We watch moments like that on tv and in the movies all the time. The good guy punching out the bad guy. It’s romanticized. In real life it’s a little more shocking huh!
It was shocking and disturbing at our house. Instantly reminded us of the footage we see of hate filled people physically and verbally attacking others, cashiers, minorities, nurses, teenagers, bike riders. Sickening.
Southern Fried: exactly. Apparently society has all agreed it’s OK to hit people now. On airplanes, in grocery stores, at school, at work. At the Oscars. Go for it. But only if you’re really angry. (When else would you hit someone?) Someone insults your wife? Just assault them. There are no consequences if you are “defending a lady’s honor.” (gag) Or, let’s be honest: rich AF. ‘Defending a black woman’ my eye. He humiliated himself, Jada AND the Williams sisters. He took down himself and everyone involved in his movie.
Rock’s joke was tacky, but Smith pulled focus from the winners and show and made it all about him. Completely self-indulgent.
In the end, this entire situation is tragic. It’s tragic for Serena and Venus, I can’t imagine how they feel on a night they were to be so happy and proud. I hope they are still so happy and proud, but it was marred. It’s tragic for Will Smith who made an emotional but poor choice. It’s tragic that men like Chris Rock get to demean women for decades. And I will add I was unhappy to see my celeb crush, Lupita, be made to feel uncomfortable. That last part is a joke, but only a little bit. I was not necessarily defending Smith’s choice to smack Rock, but I understand it, and I do feel Rock has had it coming for decades. I guess I just really don’t care that Rock got smacked. I just don’t. But so do many other male “comedians” who are nothing more than abusers. And I do feel a lot of white people are overdramatizing this smack. Drop your pearls ladies. It was a smack. Give it a rest.
I definitely think Will could have handled it better. He could defended his wife without resorting to violence. But at the same time, everything is always easier and better in hindsight. For what its worth, it did seem like he was genuinely shaken up and apologetic about the whole ordeal. Its just a shame because it was really overshadowed the rest of the wins that night.
Wow I was really looking forward to this today but this post is not it
I think there’s layers to what happened here because it was about a black woman’s hair and the academy clearly silenced Chris rock and I’m curious what they did to accomplish that. Has anyone heard anything from him? I bet he was discouraged from going to parties? Why wasn’t any of that discussed in this post?
I was shocked by the punch. A GI Jane joke is not abuse and if he wanted to “protect” his family, he should punched Chris backstage or even at an after party. Instead, he ruined his brand at a professional event and rather than bring light to the King Richard movie, he stole away everyone else’s light. Seeing him smile and party afterwards really disgusted me. He clearly has zero remorse for what he did.
I’m amazed at the people who honestly buy this was about love.
I don’t think love for Jada is the reason.
It’s the excuse.
This was and is about Will.
Will is under incredible stress. I think that much is clear.
My take is that this last dumb joke was the straw that broke the camel’s back and he snapped.
So he took all the emotion/stress he’s built up and externalized it by physically assaulting another human being….
ON AN AWARD SHOW!
ON LIVE TV!
IN FRONT OF TENS OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE!
I put that in caps because that’s bananas and important context.
To me it suggests someone either emotionally out of control or so entitled that he didn’t even think for a second about the consequences.
The fact he was weeping openly later and rambling about how “love makes you do crazy things” makes me think it was a little of both.
Everyone talks about how Chris Rock’s joke humiliated her but if I was Jada (which obviously I’m not), I’d be even more humiliated by Will’s behavior.
Lastly, you can talk about how incredibly painful Chris Rock’s joke was and how it was tantamount to violence that does major psychic damage.
You can also scoff at Will’s assault and say “Come on. Stop overreacting. It was just an open hand slap”
But you can’t do both without looking really inconsistent.
I think alot of folks (myself included) are doing major projecting today.
Man there is a lot of holier than thou people out here…. It’s funny because the moment it’s about black people all of a sudden it’s “violence is not the way!” Gotta love faux liberal white people.
Say it again Drusilla! Yes to everything you said!!!!
What white actor do you think people would excuse for punching someone on live TV over an offensive joke? I can’t think of anyone.
The fact that the academy constantly rewards white men who abuse women and children. During Kentanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation people where saying how her husband should punch the republican senators. Just because violence isn’t broadcasted doesn’t mean it’s not happening. Oh yea and Will Smith slapped Chris Rock he didn’t punch him. Funny how the narrative always changes…
Correct and it’s really disheartening. Black Women are supposed to always let the joke slide or take it on the chin. We are always meant to be stoic in the face of jokes, even when those jokes are about our health. 😕
Chris leaned forward BEFORE the slap, and Will smirked after he delivered it. It was fake.
It looked to me as though the audience reacted poorly/was lukewarm to the GI Jane “joke” so must have thought Rock was an ass. Will could have left it alone or heckled Rock or addressed it in a multitude of ways which would have been powerful. He went for the low-hanging fruit of physical violence. In my opinion, words are way more powerful. He could have chosen to defend Jada in other ways which would have been more impactful and didn’t perpetuate the painful moment for her. I’ll also add that he looked like he had lost control and had a breakdown of some kind. I don’t agree with the violence but some mental illness could be contributing. I don’t pretend to know but it seems more complicated than one or two jokes that evening causing him to lose it.
he leaned forward because he thought Will was going to say something to him.
I’m currently bald due to chemo so I am admitting my bias upfront. But Rock’s “joke” was cruel for the sake of being cruel. And I understand the desire for Will to have handled it backstage but Rock didn’t insult Jada backstage. He insulted her in front of tens of millions of viewers about a medical condition that she has publicly admitted causes her mental anguish (it is hard!). According to reporting, Rock was asked NOT to tell that joke about her and he did it anyway. I get why Will was upset and I think he’s probably more upset with himself today than anything else. But Rock had that coming.
I did not know that CR was asked not to joke about Jada
Chirs rock made a bad joke. Will should not have hit him. Clean and simple. There was something wrong with Will in that very moment, to decide to stand up, walk up the stage, hit the guy full face with hundreds of people in the room, millions of people watching live, walk back to his chair, sit down, be incandescent with rage enough to curse yell out and repeat it twice, this cannot be normal for an actor whose job is to pretend full time and for which he won the oscar for best actor. How bat shit crazy is that? If this was about protecting Jada, he would have went up to her after going for Chris Rock. Husband and wife seem very disconnected. It was definitely an ego moment for will. Entanglements maybe between Jada and Chris? Did chris know that Jada had a condition? This is too much drama for what it really is. Will had 99 options on how to deal with Chris, it is bizarre that he chose the most dramatic of all and went for violence. I am very disapointed in Will. Oprah needs to have an interview planned for this one. This is not for red table talk.
This is my take as well @Myjobistoprincess
I was really struck by how crazy it all looked.
I’m not shocked by the idea of a man physically assaulting someone (allegedly) in defense of his wife’s honor. That’s nothing new.
I’m blown away by the WAY it went down:
On live TV in front of millions and millions of people at an awards show.
After initially laughing at the joke.
Then followed by a weird rambling weepy speech.
It definitely makes me think there’s alot more to it than one bad joke.
Will Smith was right to stand up for his wife. Will Smith was wrong to do it with fists.
I seriously cant understand this old misoginistic thought of “a real man defends his wife honor” Like what?
I understand standing up for the people you care, but STOP with the idea that women need a man to defend them.
All of it is lowkey a justification of HIS actions through HER.
Will flipped and slapped someone, embarrassed himself worldwide and he did it by himself, because he decided so.
Also, losing control because of the heat of the moment doesnt justify anything either.
The joke was bad and in poor taste, but there have been worse and like stated here, it would have been forgotten by now, in fact, maybe the only mention about it would have been the nice and very deserving eyeroll that Jada gave Chris.
Anyways, first time commenting here after years of reading yay!
Losing control after being provoked is an actual legal defense to criminal behavior.
Yeah, I guess so, if me or someone I care for is being attacked I would definetly flip and hope that being provoked that way would help my defense in a criminal case.
But I’m giving an opinion on the specific case of a man slapping another man because he didn’t feel a joke. Bad joke, probably hurtful, but no one should be justified for hitting another person just because they “lost control”.
BTW, Will looked a bit drunk to me, does anyone else feel that?🤔
Yes I agree with everything you just said. I wish Will had said something in his speech. I don’t think anyone thought this was a funny joke in any case and I truly wish Will had kept his cool instead of being a total mess.
Saddened but not surprised at all by the comments by white women in this thread.
A lot of thinly veiled racism.
If Jada was a white woman the comments would have been SO DIFFERENT.
Alopecia is awful to go through.
Enough with making black women the butt of jokes especially when it comes to hair.
We deserve better.
ALWAYS can count on these types of comments here.
Can you elaborate on how you think white women are interpreting this in a racist manner? I’m just curious to know more about your take, if you’re so inclined. (And for the record, I’m mixed-race, if that matters.) And if you don’t feel like elaborating, no worries – this is probably an exhausting and frustrating topic for many people who may not be willing to “school” other people.)
Yep yep yep.
Yep, wish I could say it was surprising, but it isn’t. Some people are just intractable to adjusting their world view when it comes to people of color. Especially women of color. It’s like starting over every damn time this comes up in a thread. Like these very same things weren’t discussed ad nauseam in previous threads.
White women aren’t used to seeing a black woman be defended. They don’t like it much and are making it clear they better not see it again.
It really is amazing all of the different ways, big and small, people can uphold white supremacy, not recognize it, and write off anyone who calls them out on it. SMDH.
Here are my initial thoughts. I’m still processing, so they may change.
1) There was a time in my life when I would have swooned if a man assaulted someone who insulted me. A time when I was insecure and woefully uneducated about the dynamics of toxic masculinity, feminism, and violence.
2) I know how it feels to be ridiculed for how you look. I was the brunt of bullying “jokes” like that for years, and I’m messed up about my appearance as a result.
3) I’m one who initially thought it was staged, and then changed my mind after Will’s acceptance speech. A jumble of raw feeling bursting out of every seam.
4) So then I immediately defaulted to criticizing Will for an overwrought and mistimed reaction. But I would have cheered if someone (anyone) had punched Seth MacFarlane after his dismal “I saw your boobs” song a few years ago. So is my immediate reaction about the people involved, is it racially charged, or is it about distaste for a defense of one woman vs a defense of many? (Still processing.)
5) Whoa boy am I glad I’m not a member of the Smith household this morning.
I just found the entire thing so odd. There were a million people on stage during the Moonlight/La La Land debacle with everyone figuring out what to do and for this there wasn’t an Oscar executive or security anywhere in sight. He didn’t get escorted out, didn’t cut to commercial, a show producer didn’t go over to him. They just continued the show like nothing happened.
What Chris said was awful and he should be called out for that, but what Will did was also unacceptable and I do hope he faces some kind of consequence even if it’s not criminal charges. At the very least he should make a proper apology. So many people don’t know how to do that and he could use his visibility to step up and show how it ought to be done.
As for supporting Jada, he could have comforted her in the moment or the two of them could have walked out together or he could have made a statement later about how completely tasteless the joke was and how his wife’s medical struggles are not appropriate fodder for comedy. There are plenty of ways he could have stood up for her that would have (IMO) set a much better example of how a man can defend and support his loved ones.
Rock was ableist and misogynistic. Smith was violent. We can’t condemn toxic masculinity and excuse violence simultaneously.
Truly, at the moment, I thought it was staged. I was confused about the whole thing. But Chris Rock had put down and bullied Jada before, and at another Oscar broadcast I think in 2016, when the Smiths were asking people to boycott the Oscars for some reason. Instead of making the joke about both the Smiths, Rock made it about Jada, and said it was like him boycotting Rihanna’s panties, he wasn’t asked. Did he put down Will? No. And Jada shaved her hair because she has alopecia. YOU NEVER MAKE FUN OF A WOMAN’S HAIR. You just don’t.
People are asking if Smith apologized to Rock. Did Rock apologize to Jada? It was just a joke isn’t an apology. It wasn’t just a joke. I’m not getting into what Will did. I still love Will. He is human.
Black woman here….I thought Chris Rock’s joke was in poor taste but I thought Will’s reaction was unacceptable. THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR VIOLENCE. There are many ways he could have handled it afterwards. Will showed no self-control and it makes me wonder what’s else is going on with him. While he may have had support from some in the room, others looked disgusted ….I think this is going to come back to haunt him in the industry unless he does a proper mea culpa. I certainly think less of him and will also not forgive me for taking attention away from Serena and Venus’s story, as well as the wonderful wins by Adriana de Bose and CODA (first deaf win).
Let’s be honest here. While technically an “assault” a minor slap like this isn’t going to go far in the criminal justice system — unless you slapped a police officer. Or, maybe, if you’re a Black man. The overreactions to this event are truly ridiculous. Let’s get a sense or proportion, people. There is plenty of far worse and more damaging violence than this that doesn’t get a fraction of the attention. Let’s move on. No more tired, often racist, think pieces on this mess.
You are terribly mistaken if you find that this assault should be brushed off lightly. So from now on, every time someone is offended by another person’s words it’s okay to slap that person in the face with no repercussion? Sarah, believe me no one wants to live in the society that Will Smith is endorsing.
I have been thinking exactly this. Some of these comments are really shocking. How is violence being excused and CONDONED? Who decides what is offensive enough to deserve a slap?
It seems to me that because the interaction was so complex – misogyny, misogynoir, the trope of Black impulsivity and violence, toxic masculinity, cancel culture, mocking disabilities, wealth and privilege – people are choosing what they feel most strongly about and going with that.
I have to wonder if all the people advocating and condoning violence would be ok being violently slapped whenever they inadvertently offend someone? How about dismissing victims of domestic violence because their partner ‘only’ roughed them up and slapped them vs. putting them in the hospital? As I have seen comments calling it a ‘minor’ slap.
We are in such an awful place as a society already, if it’s now a violent free for all, any semblance of a functioning society would be lost.
Two people can be wrong at the same time. What Chris did was in poor taste, and extremely offensive. It was also a form of verbal violence. But, Will’s response was disproportionate and inappropriate. What if he had inadvertently made contact with a more vulnerable spot and Chris Rock had fallen back, hit his head, and sustained permanent damage?
If you support his actions, can you honestly say that you want to see this type of response become commonplace everywhere?
Will Smith is not “endorsing” a violent society. Please save that energy for the far-right Republicans in power who argue that the Jan. 6 insurrection was somehow okay. Will also promptly apologized to the academy and his fellow nominees in his speech.
I agree from a technical legal standpoint. I was once grabbed and bruised and shaken and yelled at by a man who was very angry at me. I reported it to the police and they took my account down but never even interviewed him. Just didn’t do anything at all. I called multiple times to ask the police what was being done and got the runaround. It was a very painful time in my life in general and I eventually just stopped calling the police about it because I truly did not have the energy.
Police departments are often overwhelmed and understaffed. It’s not always going to be the case that they consider a more minor physical assault worthy of their time. Just realistically speaking.
Because this was so prominent of an incident I could see the police taking more of an interest and I am sure the LAPD would love to get their hands on a Black man and humiliate him even more. Just being real here. I’m thankful Chris Rock has chosen to handle it without bringing the police in.
The Oscars ceremony may be a bit awkward next years because the previous year’s winner in the Best Actor category usually presents the award to the nominee in the Best Actress category. I wonder how they will handle it?
There are no winners here, everyone lost in this situation. Firstly Chris rocks joke was poor taste, a women suffering hair loss is no joke to her. I never knew she had alopecia because she rocks the shaved look but I can imagine how distressing it must be.
Will Smith was also wrong to bitch slap him too. If will had a problem he should have taken it up with Chris privately afterwards. To do it so publicly seemed so out of character for Will. It was literally the biggest night of his career, something he’s been working towards for decades and he’s completely ruined that moment. Not to mention he run the risk of literally being kicked out of the Oscar’s and possibly missing winning an Oscar ( which obviously didn’t happen). He also made jada’s humiliating joke so much worse for her as all he did was draw so much more attention to it. Will’s image is all about positivity and being the ‘good guy’ so a physically violent display like that could do untold damage to his public image.
Part of me thinks he was trying to prove something to jada because he was laughing at first and she wasn’t, and then something just changed and he flipped. Also people are now talking all about Jada and their open marriage, and she was literally minding her own business.
Also Chris Rock getting assaulted on stage live on tv is kind of a game changer, it might make these award shows actually think twice about what their presenters say. Also where was security? Are people just allowed to get attacked on stage at the Oscar’s like that? I feel like something like this happening at an awards show was a long time coming.
Phew. So much unconscious bias in these comments. A black man doesn’t have to be hauled off to jail and arrested to satisfy people’s desire to see someone punished for making such a huge mistake.
Will Smith was wrong. On the biggest night of his career, he stumbled badly and made a fool of himself on the international stage. He has done major damage to himself and also overshadowed and ruined the big night for everyone else who won an award. IMO, Will snapped. For whatever reason Chris Rock hit a nerve and regrettably Will lost it. It was sad to see someone lose their composure on such a large stage. I cannot begin to understand what was going through Will’s mind at that moment, but whatever it was, it has cost him big time. I just feel sorrow and compassion for all involved. It was heartbreaking to witness. I do wish the Academy had paused the show and allowed time for a regroup and reset before moving forward as if nothing had happened. To continue made no sense.
As for Chris Rock, I always wondered when someone would pop him for his tasteless, mean spirited jokes. Will should have handled this privately and not in front of the world.
One last thing. This unfortunate incident is no justification for Will Smith to return his Oscar. if Roman Polanski (who raped a child and fled the country) hasn’t been made to return his Oscar, well then, why should Will.
Let’s feel sorry for the guy who assaulted another in front of millions, and is a multi millionaire who didn’t even bother to apologise to Chris. He should publically thank Chris for not pressing charges.
The poster commented she felt compassion for everyone involved. Why is that such a bad thing? Will Smith made a terrible error in judgment and let his emotions get out of control. He doesn’t have to be sent to jail and punished to satisfy yours or anyone else’s feelings about the matter.
“Phew. So much unconscious bias in these comments. A black man doesn’t have to be hauled off to jail and arrested to satisfy people’s desire to see someone punished for making such a huge mistake.”
Thank you, @Crazy He Calls Me. Lots of white people showing their biases in these comments lately.
Well said.
I agree that this situation is all the things: 1) Chris Rock was wrong for telling that joke. CR has a habit of telling jokes at the expense of Black people in white spaces. 2) Will Smith had a reason to be upset with his wife; disrespecting Jada is disrespecting him and vice versa. He has a strong axiom about being a protector for his wife/family on all levels. 3) It is impolite to tell a joke about someone’s health status and situation. 4) Will was wrong to get physical with someone over a verbal statement.
Last I don’t like this unspoken narrative that BW should just accept this type of behavior and jokes. It’s basically the Serena Williams vs. Venus Williams comparison of reactions. One is acceptable, and the other isn’t, which doesn’t jive well with me. Jada was disrespected globally by an inappropriate joke. She was demeaned for her physical appearance, which she could not control due to a severe illness. She has spoken out about her hardships, and Black Hollywood is small enough to be aware. She should have been protected at that moment by CR, not made to feel like a butt of a joke. CR isn’t getting any love because his behavior has been sus towards BW for a while.
It was a stupid, tasteless joke, but what Will did was inexcusable. He should not have laid hands on Chris. That was a massive overreaction that makes me wonder what is really going on with Will.
Soooooo curious what Denzel thinks/feels on this. He’s so classy, he probably won’t ever comment on it in public.
Saaaaaaaaame!
I wish Will had just shouted at him from his seat but he didn’t and here we are. I didn’t see it so did Rock insult the other nominees spouses and single any of them out the way he did Jada? It was unfortunate what happened and I honestly do not feel sorry for Rock and only wish it hadn’t happened for Smith’s sake. I said in a previous post there were three women comedians hosting but this guy had to try an upstage them with his tired sexist jokes. He should have kept it light and moving. Rock would just look like a punk if he pressed charges. It happened, it’s done, they can work it out amongst themselves. Rock should apologize to Jada, as should her husband if he hasn’t already done so.
Will Smith just won a pretty historic Oscar being in a very small group of Black awardees for Best Actor – and boosting a film about two women athletes who have defied every odd to be the best of the best. He would have every opportunity in interviews in the coming days to call out Chris Rock for that “joke.” And the world would’ve been on his side. Instead, when I scrolled through social media this AM, every single headline was about the slap. Even from NPR and the New Yorker. Not about the award, and not about the film.
I noticed the headlines as well. All of them led with Will Smith slaps Chris Rock. What stood out to me was that Essence magazine’s headline was “Will Smith wins his first Oscar for King Richard”…no mention of the slap. Essence chose to focus on the positive and not the negative.
It’s sad that this is going to be the defining moment of his career, not the fact that he won the Oscar. Chris Rock’s behaviour was inexcusable and awful, but this was not the response that was needed, he had a platform that he could have used some very pointed words condemning CR and the villain of last night would have been Chris rock. However I can see that this runs deeper than just this joke, Rebel Wilson, Regina King, Amy Schumer all joked about them and this is the straw that broke.
What really pissed me off was that Will tied his behaviour to Richard Williams in his speech. That is just awful. Love does not create violence.
I hate it when people say violence is never the answer when we live in a country founded upon violence, when people don’t seem to care that words can be violent. It feels like people are devoid of empathy and only care about mounting their high horse. All the yt people in this thread and online talking about this are giving me a migraine. I think Will definitely displayed toxic masculine traits but the uproar is so overblown all I can do is roll my eyes. But I think Chris Rock is an unfunny smug and self centered prick who hates women and especially black women and loves to cape for yt ppl so I guess I’m biased? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Say it.
There’s so much going on here and so many on here unwilling to listen and consider some of the nuances of this situation. Very few people are applauding Will for his reaction. If you’re a person who is so focused on your anger at Will and just on the wrongness of what he did, please take a look at some of the comments on here trying to get into the nuances a little. Yes, there’s a racial component to the reactions to this situation as there’s a racial component to so much. Will was the frontrunner, and I wish he had waited until his win to gush about his wife and her strength for whatever she’s dealing with, and to condemn Chris Rock if he wanted. But he didn’t.
This is an opportunity to listen and learn about the particular type of abuse and racism Black women face. The comments just focusing on outrage at Will Smith are pretty obtuse.
Thoughtful article on the situation, IMO: https://www.laineygossip.com/there-were-no-winners-in-the-will-smith-chris-rock-exchange-not-even-for-the-actual-winners/70667
Green Desert:
I appreciate your points, and thank you for sharing this article. I’m a big fan of Will Smith and this will not change that. My regret about the incident is that 1. It took headlines over his win and the potential that win had to boost the movie 2. That #1 wasn’t really necessary because with or without the win, as an A-list actor he would have a platform to speak out against Rock’s joke and make many of the same points you’ve made here. I’ve seen a lot of comments online that if you analyze the slap it was a “film slap,” and I think that’s probably true. It wasn’t staged, but Smith never intended to cause harm. He’s a trained actor and Rock reacted to the unexpected swing (just as we all would) and both parties recognize no physical harm was ever intended. So I agree both that the focus shouldn’t be on the slap and that many of us don’t understand enough about the context to rush to judgement.
I definitely feel like the reactions are overblown. Several non-Black people were on Twitter last night clutching pearls. Stated that WS has ruined their love of the Oscars, that WS made the show about violence, that WS should be arrested and in handcuffs at the ceremony, that he should renounce his award and it is given to someone else. All of those responses are over the line. Last night was a confluence of a lot of bad things but Will Smith is being tsked at by people who don’t mind displays of violence towards black and brown bodies when perpetrated by yte people or when a Black woman is being verbally violated at a work event.
Isn’t it funny how people are “against violence” but want to call the police on Will Smith? As if calling the police on black people has not REPEATEDLY been an example of how violence is enacted against them? As if dehumanizing black women through words and otherwise is not an example of how violence is enacted against black women?
People are losing the ever loving plot, I s2g.
God, I can’t stop commenting. Yes, @Imara219 and @A!
Will didnt dare to slap that lil boy Jada slept with, but hits Chris for all the world to see? I’m sure the 3 or 4 of them had a lovely🍾🥂 after the whole ‘scuffle’.
The Oscar’s or back on the map, y’all.
Overall the organizer(s) must be thrilled.
BuZz of the week
Assuming that CR knew about Jada’s condition, his words were insensitive and unkind at best. Does that give WS the right to slap another man in front of an audience on live tv? No. It’s not a good look for either of them, and I feel disappointed and grossed out by them both.
It would have made such a bigger impact had he and Jada stoop up and walked out, but here we are.
I just can’t with these pearl-clutching comments. I really can’t. Alopecia is not just being bald, and iirc, Jada Smith has spoken out on the impact that losing her hair has had on her well-being, both mentally and physically. And what people are forgetting is that alopecia is an auto-immune illness. This is a health issue. Would other people like to get made fun of for having diseases they can’t control too?
Why are black people asked to constantly just be gracious in the face of absolute audacity? Why? All the people saying Will Smith should have stormed the stage, should have yelled from his seat, should have booed–ALL OF THOSE WOULD HAVE BEEN CRITICIZED TOO. People are acting high and mighty like “violence is not the answer” when in reality NOTHING is the answer for many, MANY folks! Will Smith should have said and done nothing. Because one’s “legacy” is important. More important to some of you than making sure the people you love are protected and cared for and not abused.
And if he had been “gracious” and made a comment in his speech against Chris Rock, would people have cared? Would people know to not make jokes about black women with auto-immune diseases and about how their looks are impacted by those diseases? People are so QUICK to dismiss the pain black women go through. Isn’t that interesting. Who would know, or care, or give a shit about Jada Pinkett-Smith and her feelings, if all Will Smith had done is make a pointed, “gracious” comment in his acceptance speech?
And all the people who are yelling about how “violence is never the answer”–didn’t movies like The Godfather, and James Bond, JUST get feted at the Oscars that SAME NIGHT? It seems to me like a certain type of violence is absolutely okay for some people! Both movies are horrendous, particularly in their treatment and depiction of women! The Godfather LITERALLY has a plotline where a woman’s brother calls a hit and kills her husband bc he is abusive to her!!!!!! But that’s “cool” and the people who starred in that movie and portrayed that story get applauded, but what Will Smith did is horrible and bad??? People have lost all perspective.
What types of violence is excused as “heroic” and “acceptable” and “just” and what isn’t, and why is Will Smith not on that list? Gratuitous violence is portrayed as cool and acceptable and justified on screen. You get the society you fete, you get the values you valorize on screen and elsewhere. End of.
People think violence in the form of calling the police and having Will Smith get arrested for slapping another man, knowing that the implications of calling the police is itself often a call to violence, is okay and acceptable and righteous, and just. That’s the “gracious” action, according to a civilized society apparently.
Some of you need to look in the mirror, badly.
Thank you, A. This was a really well explained comment.
I’m saddened how many people in these comments want to pile on Will Smith, as if his actions exist in a vacuum. He and Jada were in a predominantly white space and were just expected to brush the joke off. ANY reaction would have been highly criticized, because there was no “winning” there.
Look at KBJ and all the awful questions she was presented with – black men and women have to be twice as good in reality to be seen as half as good.
Will Smith reacted with anger and violence, but how much racism (aka violence) has he been subjected to before this before he finally snapped? Not to mention racism directed at his wife? And some people actually want to involve the police, conveniently forgetting BLM and the implications of calling the police on a black man, even a famous and wealthy one.
For context, my mom has a form of Alopecia and I have a physical disability. I’ve heard every dumb, offensive, and hurtful joke in the book and have dealt with it my entire life. You do. Not. Smack people. This is different from The Godfather — this is real life for goodness sake! I’m not clear why you’re comparing film plot lines and real life.
I’m really stunned that anyone is defending Will’s actions. Everyone is in agreement he was well within his rights to confront Chris if he felt the need, but come on. This isn’t how adults act, end of, and making it sound like we’re only saying it because he’s a Black man is absurd. If Ashton Kutcher slapped Seth Rogan for making a joke about Mila Kunis, it would be awful. If Orlando Bloom slapped Jimmy Kimmel for making fun of Katy Perry, it would be awful. If Jay Z slapped Trevor Noah for talking about Beyoncé, it would be awful. There is zero excuse for this behavior from any grown adults. Violence is not heroic, nor is it heroic that Will’s actions took away from the Williams’ sisters big night, as well as a historic night for several other winners.
@Case I hope that you can see, eventually, that hardly anyone on here is defending Will Smith’s actions. I hope that you will listen to the many wonderful ways people on here have explained why takes like yours are frustrating. You are basically giving a version of “I don’t see color” in your posts. And some advice – if people of color are saying race is at play, it’s at play. In addition to inter-racial dynamics, there are intra-racial dynamics. Your singular focus on the slap rather than all of the complex racial dynamics at play is deliberately obtuse. I hope that you and others with similar opinions can understand that sometimes listening and learning is your only role.
@Green Desert I genuinely apologize if I caused you or anyone else harm in my comments. This is a deeply complex issue that involved triggering abuse survivors, issues of race, issues of womens hair and the specific defense of Black women, what responses are appropriate where and how we culturally react to such actions, and more. I am fully unqualified to comment on the race aspect of it and so my comments were made to be only focused on the slap by design, as I personally found it to be mostly about how we treat one another and behave, as I’m deeply bothered the attention has been permanently diverted from the first dead man and first openly queer Afro Latina woman to win Oscars. I’m upset by that on personal levels and can’t help that.
I assure you I was not being deliberately obtuse. That said, I understand there are many other issues at play here and deeply apologize for any hurt I caused by not taking that all into account in my comments. I tend to stay out of issues I feel I don’t have the right to comment on and will do so from here on out. Have a good night.
Green Desert, your comments are so on point. You are phrasing everything exactly the way I currently feel reading some of the comments and reactions to this situation. I just do not have the patience to explain once again to people who just don’t seem to get, or refuse to see, the racial dynamics at play in this and some of our reaction to it. Thank you for that.
@A i love your comment so much I am screenshotting it. People *particularly those who are not black seem not to understand..
I mean… Since when do you get arrested for slapping someone? I think that’s an overreach.
I don’t justify his actions but I understand losing your temper. First with the open marriage jokes, then his wife’s disease. It’s too much.
I’ll assume you COULD get arrested for slapping someone, but it would be dismissed. I mean, nobody is doing real time over that…unless a black man slapped a white person. Anyway, these hysterics in these comments are WHITER than fresh snow.
I know someone who pressed charges against someone who shoved her to the side as she was leaving the room, and she got a conviction. Every person who was in the room took the side of the person who did the shoving because the shovee taunted, insulted, and laughed at her while she was crying. It didn’t matter– if you so much as tap someone on the shoulder, you can be charged with assault.
Come on people… slapping IS an assault. WTF. Full stop. You can get arrested & convicted for slapping another person. It doesn’t mean it will happen, it just means slapping is an assault. Stop splitting hairs on this. And I don’t think Will Smith should have been arrested but the mental gymnastics being done about this is crazy.
Wait…what?! You think going up and slapping someone isn’t an arrestsable offense? Of course it is. It’s assault. I’m a lawyer and have seen people arrested for just grabbing someone’s arm to threaten them. And while context matters, I’m pretty okay with the law making it illegal to slap another person in the face.
Do I think Will Smith should be arrested in this context? No, and thankfully Chris Rock didn’t want to pursue it.
Zsa Zsa Gabor was (rightly) arrested for slapping a cop.
I know someone who got arrested for grabbing someone’s wrist. So yeah you could be arrested for slapping someone.
If I had the confidence of a “liberal” white woman who has to get her opinion out all over the place, ignoring the opinions of a small group of people on here who are trying to provide a different and nuanced perspective, after the racial reckoning this country (founded on actual violence) has had to deal with over the last few years, I would…wait, what was I saying?
The whiteness of these comments really shone through today. It often does, but they’ve outdone themselves today.
A whole mood right here.
We all live in this society. We have to have basic lines that should be inviolable, for the good of us all. And non-violence against others should be one of those hard lines, whether perperpetrator or victim is black or white. Smudging those lines with excuses or trying to shut others down from discussion just leads to further injustices and suffering. It’s ok to hit people in the face if your feelings were really hurt? Who gets to decide what constitutes suitably hurt feelings? And I might say, why do you make this to be only about race? I might think if Will Smith hadn’t been male, or extremely rich, or American, he would never have gotten off as he did, or had the platform he had afterwards to justify his toxic behaviour.
There is no excuse for Smith’s physical assault. Rock made a joke in poor taste…and I bet he is sincerely sorry for it. I won’t make any excuse for someone physically abusing another person because a of a bad joke that was impromptu and without malice. Smith is 100% in the wrong, and he needs to grow up.
Okay, white woman here. 🙂 I’ve been reading & listening & super fascinated & have my psychological take to add to the convo. I think the stress of the biggest night of Will’s life caused him to “break” in such a way that he felt forced/had the opportunity to resolve the biggest unresolved psychological issue of his life: his self-perceived failure to defend his mother from his father. By defending Jada, he publicly fulfilled that need & was rewarded for it. That explains his speech, behavior afterward, feeling of being on top of the world etc. The psychological stresses of that night must have been enormous. Anyway, I know nothing & cannot comment on the rest, but thought I’d add my bit.
Rock took a cheap shot at a woman’s appearance, which men often do, and called it a joke. It shouldn’t matter why she shaved her head, it offensive to make fun of anyone’s appearance. BTW, I can only wish I would look half as good as Jada if I lost my hair. Chris’ earlier comment to Bardem that he better pray he doesn’t win if his wife doesn’t win too was also stupid and another put down of a woman. Women hear this crap everyday and I hope the tide turns.
I find the situation incredibly upsetting. I want my children to exist in a civil society where people come together to celebrate the accomplishments of the arts and others. Since when is making fun of other people actually funny?! It’s hurtful and wrong. I wish the world was full of emotionally mature and sensitive adults. It’s was a evening spoiled by all parties. How can we expect children to act in a civil manner when the adults they so look up to act like Smith and Rock last night?
I just remember feeling an overall aura of sadness and fear after it happened, for the rest of the night. This is the biggest night in their career, the most incredible dream, for almost every person there. The great majority will never be nominated again—mostly it’s a once-in-a-lifetime honor. It overshadowed Summer of Soul and Questlove, and the second deaf actor ever to win an acting award, and the first openly queer Latinx Best Supporting Actress, and the incredible double whammy of women directors taking both Best Director and Best Picture—plus the beautiful diversity of the night (in comparison to its straight and whitewashed history). It even overshadowed the Williams’ family, which I would have thought impossible, and the victory of telling their story their way.
I’m just sad, for everyone involved.
+1000
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/will-smith-oscar-king-richard_n_623ddc26e4b0c0781aba8786
This makes good points too, that this whole PE change during his oscar race was him opening up another personal things we’ve never heard from home before, his abusive childhood home etc. So this vulnerability is new for him and he just exploded the wrong way
I stand by Will Smith 100%. I’m sure he wishes he could go back in time and confront Chris Rock backstage instead of onstage so as not to have his moment overshadowed. But I’m sure he doesn’t regret standing up for his wife. Chris Rock ruined Will Smith’s night and his family’s night. I don’t think any less of any man who’s spent their entire adult lives being a good dude but lost their cool in defense of a wife or child. You disrespect a woman right there to her face, on live TV for the whole world to see, and her husband’s “violent” and a “monster” if he doesn’t just brush it off? Please.
The ONLY reason people are calling him violent, calling for his Oscar to be given back, and even accusing him of being an abuser, is because he defended his BLACK wife. Period. Had he been married to Nicole Kidman and defended her honor after Chris Rock humiliated her like that over a symptom of a medical condition, everyone dragging him would be cheering him right now. Instead, they’re comparing him to friggin’ OJ Simpson, a double murderer. And miss me with people being scandalized over a man slapping another man at the Oscars. Those people sitting in that room are many of the same people who voted to award child rapist Roman Polanski with an Oscar award. I don’t want to hear anything about Will Smith “bringing down” the Oscars. Please. Child rape they’re fine with. But a black man defending his black wife? Oh, they’re scandalized and scared. GTFO.
I’m sorry but I profoundly disagree with this. Celebrities are role models for our kids and while Rock was out of line with what he said, Smith smacking him in the face and shouting profanities showed even less class than Rock. I never want my kids to think that it is ok to smack someone in the face because they are offended by a comment.
All Smith proved by that outburst and his attack on Chris Rock is that he is straight-up ghetto with no class at all.
Doubtless you’ve heard the saying, “You can take the man out of the ‘hood, but you can’t take the ‘hood out of the man.”
Everybody just take a gigantic breath and several seats. Ask yourselves why you are so engorged with rage here? Stop “what if” ing the situation and imagining and fantisizing what might happen if different variables were present. “What if it was Amy Schumer?” Well what if it was Harvey Winestein? Stop the false equivalencies with woman abuse it’s insulting! Stop all or nothing “ing” the whole entire world and doing mental gymnastics and removing nuance from situations. Be reasonable! Chris Rock has a longstanding history of making sexist jokes against Jada specifically. Then, he made a joke about her alopecia and turns out, Will Smith too has a line, and walked up to him and slapped him in the face. That’s what happened. The word “and” exists. Violence is wrong AND it felt good watching Chris Rock, a known male chauvinist bully who hates on Jada often in sexist ways, get slapped. Will Smith deserves his Oscar AND he is a treasure AND he should be held accountable for violating the code of conduct, maybe pay a fine or whatever most security consequences are for this stuff. It happened. It’s nuanced. There’s a fricken war going on and crying over learning Will Smith isn’t perfect and trying to justify white rage by making this out to be evidence that Will Smith is abusive because “all Violence is wrong” is a reach and a half. Chris Rock was vile. WIll Smith should not have crashed the stage and slapped him in the face and he should be held accountable and it felt good as well and the racist overtones are disgusting and the academy should revisit bullying and harrassment policies around “jokes”. Stop turning this into something it’s not.
This. All this.
Maybe we need to rethink “roasting” in general as a comedic entity, especially in a large televised event.
While I believe anger does not make it okay to assault others I understand Will’s anger to a point. I don’t know what it is like to be the spouse of a person with alopecia but I do know what it is like to be a person with alopecia. It is hard enough to deal with the illness itself let alone the jokes and judgements that come with it. And harder still for someone whose life happens in the public eye I imagine. We are not privy to the toll it may have taken on her and struggles that Jada may have gone through nor what of that Will may have witnessed. So I feel Will’s response to Chris Rock’s “joke” is understandable though not acceptable.
@FCH thanks for providing a balanced response. I 100% agree with you
@FCH same here. I posted about my niece as a reply to another poster on this thread. The only difference is that my action on Chris would be off camera and not just a slap.
I hope last night all parties involved came to a peaceful resolution and hug-fest with each other without giving any mind to the current social media feeding frenzy.
May they all be free from pain and suffering.
But can we PLEASE talk about Jada’s dress and it’s resemblance to a bowl of cooked spinach?
So you’re going to pile on a black woman who has already been wronged? Making fun of her clothes now. You must be white.
Weren’t a bunch of the posts today about fashion? I wanted to talk about her dress before the show started.
And I have a strict policy against arguing with strangers on the internet.
I’m black and I think her dress looked like a pot of wet kale.
Sorry but this is very simple. Someone said something WS took exception to and he responded with a slap across the face. Don’t make excuses.
It amazes me at all these self righteous folks who have never had a lapse of judgment up in here! I know I have. You don’t know what is behind the mask we wear on our faces. Smiles many times hide other feelings and are just for the cameras sometimes.
Self-righteous indeed. “Violence is never the answer!!” They want to throw people in prison now over a damn slap. Utter ridiculousness. All this while sticking the Ukrainian flag in their bios and donating to support a war. It’s ok for white people to take up arms and literally MAIM and KILL other human beings in defense of their homeland but it’s not ok for a black man to slap another man for disrespecting his black wife, mother of his children Got it.
Hi Kelsea – I made two different statements.
The first was directed at the comments who said Chris Rock’s insult to Jada wasn’t a big deal because “that’s just the way it is at the Oscar’s”. I think insulting audience members at the Oscar’s shouldn’t be a thing anymore because people need to be there but shouldn’t have to in turn also have to accept being insulted and ridiculed.
I did not equate Chris Rock being slapped after his joke to any type of workplace situation. That was a one off personal to Chris and Will and my opinion is that Chris taunted/insulted/humiliated someone at the wrong place and time and there was a consequence. (I am not debating the rightness or wrongness of the consequence.)
There is no long standing tradition of people being slapped at the Oscar’s and I don’t think this is leading to a future tsunami of Oscar night violence.
There you have it. Hope that helps.
Chris Rock should have known better than to tell a joke about JPS hair. After all didn’t he do a documentary a few years ago about how important hair is to black women.
I just feel…so sad to read the views of so many CB commenters. The complete lack of understanding of what some of you should and should not comment on, and what you do and don’t understand. As Amber Webb Sims (@amberwsims) posted on Instagram, white people “should refrain from partaking in a public discourse layered with cultural and intra-racial complexities that [you] do not understand and cannot speak on. Part of divesting from White Supremacy includes the sensitivity to recognize when [your] voice is not relevant and the moment does not belong to [you].”
Her whole post on this topic is good. I encourage everyone to read it.
And I hope that CB writers will take the time and consideration to think about this, all of the nuances, and do a follow-up post in the coming days.
Typical white folks. Always gotta mouth off about things they don’t understand.
I am black, and so are most of my friends and relatives, and almost all of us hope Smith loses his Oscar over this. His actions were disgusting, indefensible and inexcusable. He could have met Rock after the Oscar’s and settled accounts outside. By then, cooler heads would probably have prevailed anyway. He attacked Rock onstage because he wanted a world wide audience. He’s a narcissistic jerk who wanted to make it all about him. And all that fake apology means is he’s worried he might get stripped of his Oscar. It would serve him right if he was.
There were only losers last night. This seems so uncharacteristic for Will Smith by reputation. His marriage is weird and he has unresolved trauma from childhood but after some early stumbles he developed a reputation for professionalism and hard work and amiability. He must be truly in distress before that joke to just snap like that. He absolutely did the wrong thing and deserves consequences to his career. But I feel really badly for him because I feel like he is truly in distress. OTOH he was dancing at the after parties so maybe I’m just being duped. I wish he would put out a sincere statement and apologize like he means it and also talk about what led him to that point. It won’t change his actions but it might change the lesson.
I also feel so badly for Jada as now her medical condition is front and center and on everyone’s lips.
And all the other Oscar winners and the Williams family who were completely overshadowed. And comedians now wondering if an audience member is going to assault them for mean jokes. And POC now being asked at work about how they justify what happened last night like we all speak for one another. And black women who are subject to violence in word and deed all day and expected to be graceful, and then blamed for whatever action is taken in their name too.
I feel like everyone is hurting now and just feel so sad for everyone. Chris Rock is a mean asshole but even he shouldn’t be slapped on TV.
I didn’t watch the show, award shows are too long, and I have chosen not to watch the incident. Issues about and around women’s hair are fraught with all of the crowning glory attachments. Black women’s hair more so, because it is used to deride, belittle, constrain, villify, control, etc. It’s culling: it effects livelihoods, opportunities, and how one moves through this world, as Chris Rock well knows. Physical violence is not an acceptable response to voiced ignorance. There are no winners here, it’s just exhaustingly sad.
“Physical violence is not an acceptable response to voiced ignorance”, I agree, totally. In my country everyone is applauding Will, even people I see as level headed and fair. I don’t believe in just letting it go, reactions are important, but as you said, they must be on the same level. Were you punched? You have every right to punch back. Had Will taken up the stage, taken the mic from Chris and made an aggressive, reactive speech, I’d be on his side.
So much to say about this situation. Like others said what a time to do this when you all are wanting respect. Jada has cheated on Will and made it well known on TV and she doesn’t deserver any respect for that. Heck she was darn proud of it. They were both in the wrong BUT Will crossed the line. You never really know a person even though everyone thinks he’s really nice. Will you showed us your true colors. You deserve the consequences. Bad immature, tacky, nasty boys.
I appreciate the discussion above even as it exposes some of the biases we have. I though Keith Reed at The Root had a thoughtful article on this incident.
https://www.theroot.com/on-will-smith-protecting-black-women-or-toxic-masculin-1848715016
Honestly I always thought Demi Moore in GI Jane looked incredibly beautiful. I look at Jada and I seem the same radiance & beauty. Stunning. Strength. Poise. Elegance.
Stupid Chris Rock is an oaf who has been whining for a while now about not being able to have diarrhea from his mouth because people would be upset, and not think it’s humorous. (He is not alone; listen to all the stand up comics who are trying to manage “wokeness” by complaining about not being able to be “free to speak their minds”)
Will Smith, waiting to see if you continue to be the dbag diva you have always been. Jada could have slapped Chris in the face while we all applauded.
I am horrified that some people are excusing Will’s behavior. He assaulted another man in front of millions of viewers. That is not cool. He also pulled focus from his own win and others who worked so hard to be recognized. I agree that what Chris said was crass and not nice but perhaps a side conversation would have been more appropriate.
Violence is NEVER the answer. In a world where violence destroys lives on a daily basis, Smith’s behaviour is appalling. He should have been escorted out; he should not have received the award. He should not have been consoled or treated as the victim. Smith tainted the evening for everyone else because he could not control himself. His behaviour can NOT be justified, ever.
I heard the Rock is hosting next year.
I’m horrified that so many people seem to think it’s OK to bully someone for their medical condition. If someone in school is constantly bullied in school and stands up to the bullies are they in the wrong. Sure Will shouldn’t have slapped Chris, but in my opinion chris was more in the wrong.
I think Chris made a shitty joke and should have known better. I think Will probably didn’t handle it as well as he should have. I think the Oscars DEFINITELY didn’t handle it well as they should have.
At the end of the day, I don’t think it’s more than two men beefing in brief, and everybody around them having to eat the cost of their ego trip. I get why Rock didn’t file charges, and I don’t think Smith is a particular danger to anybody around him going forward. He’s eating the cost now in PR, but frankly, I doubt either of them will be hurt in the long term from it. Both sides have their defenders, and they’ll bounce back well enough.
Will showed his true colours! The Hollyweirdos in that theatre were all high with their fixes! The truth is most of them are fake pretenders, they hate each other, there is jealousy among themselves, they make money pretending & fooling people to buy what they sell! Their true selves are never shown on awards & shows all pretence for audiences but this time Will could not hide his truth he blocked his thoughts that he was not behind close doors, he snapped! Not a planned reaction he is only human after all! Was not in self control for a moment
Chris Rock has a history of making polarized and derogatory comments towards black women’s hair at their expense, it’s old and we’re beyond tired of it of him and any other person POC or not using our hair as a way to degrade us. And if you don’t think the discrimination and harassment of a black woman’s hair is a big deal they just had to pass laws saying it’s illegal to discriminate against us or harass at place of employments….so yes this is a big problem.
Jada has openly admitted she had alopecia back in 2018, so there’s no way Chris wasn’t aware. If you known anyone that’s either had alopecia you can go bald just like a cancer patient and in some cases it is permanent. And the emotional and mental toll it takes on that person it’s unfounded. Everybody tries to say oh it’s just a joke no Demi Moore shaved her head in GI Jane for a role, Jada had no choice due to a medical disease, and quite frankly making fun of her shaving her head is equivalent to making fun of a cancer patient it’s unacceptable, no matter what anyone stances on violence.
Women of color are getting very tired of being attacked for the way we look, for being too strong, for the way our hair is, for the color of our skin, it’s ridiculous. When someone is degrading enough to make fun of someone’s appearance due to a medical issue or a disease I expect nothing less for someone’s loved one to respond and defend and support them. It’s one thing to make comments about extramarial entanglements, have at it they’ve been open about it but when someone is bullied and ridiculed due to a medical disease they have that mess needs to be called out period.
He made a whole documentary about Black women’s hair and the cultural importance/history of Black hair…? The CROWN Act has made it through the House but not the Senate, so there’s still work to be done there.
I’m not defending Chris’ joke – it was in ridiculously poor taste; however, does no one remember the GGs and Ricky Gervais? It’s not like this is new or came out of nowhere.
Yay, toxic masculinity.
I’m a fan of Will and I was rooting for him to win.
At the end of the day, regardless of the reason…he physically ASSAULTED someone at a professional event on live TV. If I did that I would probably get fired and arrested.
Chris’s joke was tasteless. But Will’s reaction:
-Kanyed” Quest Love’s award acceptance
-tainted the William’s proud family moment
-tainted his first Oscar. And his victimhood stance when he accepted the awards made it worse.
If he yelled out “that’s a low blow Chris” or similar and then addressed it verbally in his acceptance speech. He would’ve walked away with his head held high and all of us cheering him on for defending his wife.
If he really needed to; he could’ve addressed it face to face backstage.
As much as I loathed the joke and support him as a fan; I just cannot condone or justify his behavior.