While I know Will Smith will face larger repercussions for what happened at the Oscars – and we’ll talk about that in depth in separate posts – it should be noted that there seems to be a net positive effect from the slapping incident. The Oscar ratings were up, and the constantly-struggling award show is now more vital and gossip-worthy than ever. Chris Rock’s standup tour saw a huge surge in ticket sales following the slap too. Chris was back on stage this week in Boston. He did back-to-back sold-out standup shows at The Wilbur last night, and this was Rock’s first public statement after he got slapped, not counting “it was a GI Jane joke.” He didn’t say much about it:
The 57-year-old comedian had a show at The Wilbur in Boston Wednesday night, where he addressed the ordeal, telling the audience, “I’m still processing what happened.”
A very rowdy crowd screamed Rock’s name before his first appearance since the 94th Academy Awards, according to an audience member. The comedian then took the stage dressed in all white and received a standing ovation.
“What’s up, Boston?” he asked the crowd, before adding: “How was your weekend?!”
After Rock said that he was still “processing” what happened at this year’s Oscars, he told fans in the audience that he would probably talk about what happened at some point in a serious manner, according to the audience member, but that he had written a whole show full of jokes for Wednesday evening.
Though there were some in the crowd yelling “Will Smith” during the show, the audience member says Rock did not acknowledge the shouts and never mentioned the Best Actor Oscar winner by name once throughout his set.
“Except for a couple weird things, life is pretty good right now,” Rock said later in his standup routine.
The only thing different in his 10 pm show was that Rock told the audience, “I haven’t talked to anyone, despite what you heard” and that he didn’t want to “talk about that sh-t.” He never mentioned Will Smith by name either.
There have been some jokes and talk about how Denzel Washington, Tyler Perry and the Black Hollywood elites at the Oscars put out the group text (that night) that this issue was going to be handled in-house, within the community. I believe that! But I also think it’s interesting that Chris and his people (“sources close to Rock”) keep putting out the message that he hasn’t talked to anyone, that no one is talking to him. Perhaps Rock is looking for guidance for how he should proceed as well, and that’s why he isn’t really addressing the situation at the moment. Denzel absolutely needs to give him a call. Tyler Perry too. It wouldn’t be the worst idea to organize a private, face-to-face airing of grievances between Will, Jada and Chris as well. Get it all out, and figure out what they’re all going to say publicly too.
Photos courtesy of Getty, Avalon Red.
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- Presenters Elliot Page, J.K. Simmons and Chris Rock backstage at the Oscar® for Original Screenplay to Kenneth Branagh 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: 673582693, 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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- Chris Rock backstage at 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: 673582761, 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
I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up on red table talk at some point this year.
In this day and age drama sells. It’s why some celebrities purposefully create “beefs” or whatever because it creates the most attention to sell their products.
I mean look at Kanye/drake when they were releasing their albums or even the kardashians.
I was saying to my friend that the reason Jada has not said a word about any of this apart from posting “This is a season of healing and I’m here for it” on Instagram or something to that effect is because she’s saving the “good stuff” for her show. Wouldn’t be surprised if she was in conversations as soon as the ceremony ended. The producers of RTT are no doubt horrified the Slap happened, but they are thrilled at the future content and the ratings bonanza it will be. It’s a boon for the show and it would be stupid not to exploit that at some point. The Smiths are notorious oversharers so for Jada not to talk about it on the show would seem off brand. I doubt it will happen right away, I’m sure Jada needs time to process what happened. But I’m sure she will want to address it and she’ll use her show to do it, as is her right.
chris as already monetized it, Jada and Will will get there, and all the rest of you are going to be fighting over who was right.
“I’m still processing what happened.”
Chris Rock…this man is milking the fact that so many white celebs are distorting the event and making it seem that Will Smith nearly killed him. He’s hiding behind these racist white people and it shows SO MUCH about his character.
He would end this crap if he put out a statement accepting Will’s apology and apologizing to Jada. But he doesn’t. Because he thinks white celebrities are protecting him when really they are using his as an excuse to be racist out loud.
If they didn’t see them before, I know that now for sure all Black celebitches see his true colors.
To be fair there’s lots of black celebrities supporting Chris as well. Though a few of them seem to be comedians.
I talking about white celebrities.
Not Black.
Not Asian.
Not non-Black.
White celebrities. The people who are taking up most of the air and using Chris Rock’s silence to dehumanize a Black man and erase a Black woman’s pain.
I’m black and I don’t support him. And he sure never will support me or any black woman.
I’m black and I support him. Also, I would have been embarrassed to have my husband get up and hit someone. That is not my idea of protection.
Some People really think it’s anti black to disapprove of what Will did. LMAF
I’m a black woman and fully agree.
He was slapped on live international television less than a week ago. Whether you think that’s right or wrong, he’s allowed to have feelings about that.
Chris has talked about being terribly bullied growing up. He was physically beat up and even sexually assaulted by his bullies. I can image that having one of the biggest stars in Hollywood slap you in public might actually require some processing. Comedians need to take a hard look at what they find acceptable in their craft but that doesn’t negate that Chris might actually need to process as well.
I just find it fascinating that no reply engages with my point that Chris Rock’s silence is providing cover for white celebrities to (gleefully) display their racism. Each day The Slap saga continues, 57 year-old so-Black-he-lets-molester-Louis-CK-say-the-N-word Chris Rock is re-cast as this ideal victim. Each day this saga continues, white celebs continue to fall over themselves to transform Will Smith into the racist hyper-aggressive Black man stereotype and erase Jada Pinkett-Smith and any discussion of ableism from this entire incident. You know, be racist.
Now, in an effort to generate even more sympathy, y’all revealing Chris Rock is a sexual assault survivor likely traumatized by The Slap and wow. Honestly did not know and truly feel sorry he experienced that (not being sarcastic I really do). Wonder how y’all will defend/excuse his complicity, ableism and misogynoir next week. Fascinating. Just fascinating.
Maybe you need to read a book about trauma and triggers. Chris Rock is entitled to process this for as long as he needs.
Queen Megan’s Hand I agree with you 100% with everything you wrote. I can’t stand Chris Rock however I am not a fan of Will /Jada as well. Chris Rock is very hateful and mean spirit person and this information was told to me first hand so I am glad he got slapped into next year. I don’t condone violence and yes Will could have used his words instead. He could have spoke with him in private but sometimes certain people push and this be the result. Also I find it kind of odd that so many people in room gave Will a standing ovation which lead me to believe that many of them don’t care for CR. To tell the truth I have no respect for CR after he allowed a white man to disrespect him by using the N-word.
Zee idk about that. I think he got a standing ovation because he’s beloved, his words were touching, and he cried. Also he’s a tall, hot successful cis man he has privilege. And he has a long good “record” at not being an asshole that we know of.
I’m not against him and not really mad at him for the slap simply don’t think hating CR is the reason for the clapping. Also, Wanda and Amy seem to be friends with Chris and also are accepted by Hollywood so it doesn’t make sense that everyone else hates him. Or are comedians and Hollywood separate?
I’m not saying Chris Rock is a victim here but I think him saying he needs to process is an honest response to have with his personal history. Doesn’t mean he is right in any of this. Just like Wills history shaped his reaction. Doesn’t excuse but does explain. I feel bad for Jada. I have an autoimmune disorder that can be very noticeable and it hurts to have people make jokes or even just clueless comments. Nobody is evil here
The issue of what we accept in comedy (punching down, racism, Misogyny, ableism, Homophobia, and transphobia) and with who actors support that they shouldn’t (such as CK Louis) is a separate issue that EVERY ONE in Hollywood needs to address because they all hold some responsibility (at least the ones at the level that they are invited to the Oscars every year)
@Queen Meghan’s Hand I 100% agree.
@QueenMeghansHand Their racisim is def showing and even black people raised with the illusion of believing they are white (Zoe Kravitz) are jumping in the mix. I do not feel that Chris Rock should have been slapped, BUT when it happened I was like everyone else I know… “he shoulda kept his mouth shut”…
Or…Chris Rock could indeed still be processing what happened. He’s mentioned that he’s talked to a therapist as well about other matters, so it is very likely that he has things he’s sorting through.
Barack Obama should have slapped him too during that other world tour when Barack was campaigning when Chris Rock said you can’t make a black woman your first lady, why? because she will want to play your position. A white woman knows her position…Meaning black women are loud and don’t know how to be submissive. Really this was a diss to white women…they should smack his smug face too!
I could not disagree with you more. Chris is under no obligation to accept that piss poor apology. I applaud Chris for taking his time to process rather than responding without thinking it through. Unlike what Will. And how dare you accuse anyone of being racist because they support Chris.
Boston is the most racist city in the northeast and “How was your weekend” is funny. That’s all I’ma say on this.
Where’s his apology to Jada?
He’s been attacking Jada (through comedy) since the 90s. So he knows how much she is bothered by his (non) jokes! He will never apologize to her. She’s his main go to when it comes to attacking Black women through comedy. Got some of his fellow white comedians calling her a bitch all up and down twitter. He’s not sorry about any of it!!
I had heard that CR was always picking with Jada but I did not know its was that far back. He is always derespectful when it comes to black women and me I have no pity for him. If other people choose to support CR thats their chose but don’t come to me about why I should.
Thank you, Queen Meghan’s Hand and Zee and TruthSF! Chris’ history of misogynoir and anti-Blackness caught up with him Sunday. And the fact that so many people on this website are unable to see or consider that proves how hollow their allyship (or pursuit of it) is. The white women on this website will analyze any and everything for layers ( Exhibit A: The royal family), but this slap can only be taken on the surface. Too many white people have been biting their tongues over the last 2 years as they’ve been forced to reconcile with their racism and their glee and speed to denomize Will Smith, one of the most genial celebrities ever, for one moment shows who they really are. Where is the anger for Brad Pitt or Adrien Brody? Where is the anger for William Hurt who raped and abused Marlee Matlin? He was honored in the In Memoriam segment in the same telecast where Marlee’s film was nominated. If William Hurt’s legacy never took a ding – the word abuser didn’t appear under his name – why should Will’s? If you hate Black people, say it with your full cheat and stop wrapping it in faux concern.
The same Jada who was laughing as hard as all getout after her husband slapped Chris Rock? That Jada deserves an apology?
@Dee Yes. That’s the person who deserves an apology.
Are you saying that misogynoir is okay when the victim doesn’t react negatively outwardly? I would hope not, since that sounds exactly like victim blaming.
Maybe his apology to Jada was not pressing charges against her husband who assaulted him…
That’s not an apology, those are two separate things. Jada is not her husband, or vice versa. Rock conflating the two in order to duck an apology to the woman he insulted in a room full of her peers during a global broadcast is not the way to go.
@Ff You’re absolutely right that Jada and Will are not interchangeable simply because they’re married. You might want to mention that to the people who feel like the assault was somehow justified. There’s more than just Jada who was aggrieved here. Personally, I can sympathize with a victim of assault not feeling comfortable or ready to apologize for an insult when he’s still processing what happened.
Where is Jada’s apology to her husband. She has done more damage to her husband than any joke can do
I like many don’t think Will should have slapped Chris but I REFUSE to condemn Will because he was defending his wife because he LOVES his wife. What happened was a culmination of a LOT of sh*t that has gone down.
Chris needs to look inwards too while he’s processing. Look at the ways he has used black women as punchlines and has basically sh*t on us. And how he as allowed racism to persist within HIS inner circle. He should consider all that while he’s processing.
I agree 100 per cent with you, girl. The horrible exploitation of black women in entertainment across the board ( rap, comedy, film) must be stopped immediately. It’s terrible.
One of the winners of the Oscar that Rock was on stage to announce wrote a very interesting account of his perspective of the incident on Twitter. He’s South Asian and was really honoured to be one three Asian winners on the night, but instead of saying his name, Rock dismissed him as a white guy. So between that and his comments about Jada, I don’t feel any sympathy for Chris Rock.
I had no idea about that. Chris dismissing an Asian man as a white man shows again how he has no problem disrespecting people.
Ninks, That sounds exactly like Chris Rock.
I was actually shocked by that tweet and disgusted with Rock. It was a blatantly racist and dismissive thing to say, and took away from that persons moment earning that award. I’m glad Rock maintained his composure during this whole thing to prevent it getting any worse, but in general, he seems like a bit of a jerk.
Ninks – so basically Chris Rock did not do the job he was paid to do. Would be nice to have Twitter link (saying this as old white Twitter-ignorant crone).
I sincerely hope that is part of his processing.
I co-sign 100% to that. I am not going to blame him for standing up for his wife. I just wish he had use his words and not his hands.
Thank you for your nuanced take on this. I wish Will hadn’t reacted the way he did on Sunday night. But I’m so tired of the harm Chris Rock keeps doing to the black community in general, and black women in particular.
This is an interesting response from Chris. Hope everyone concerned ends up ok.
So there goes that whole Chris Rock apologized to Jada narrative everyone and their mom went out there spinning with.
And I bet no one has reached out to him cause many of the elders in HW were sick of his mess. I bet you it messed up Rock to know that Samuel L dapped up Will after that mess, that Denzel gave him the thumbs up. There’s a lot going on there.
I will say that based on the Academy and trying to retcon what they claimed went down on Monday that Will Smith is looking at a years or lifetime ban from being a member and attending events and I bet you they are in discussions about taking his Oscar.
I have seen some people saying what I am about to say, so I am not remotely being original with it, but someone should advised Will to apologize directly to the Academy, tell them that he is requesting them to remove him from their ranks, and send back that Oscar. That’s the only way it’s going to be enough for some people. The number of people saying he’s rich and would face no consequences made me laugh. He’s Black first. Always.
And before anyone comes to say a thing at me, he should not have slapped Chris Rock, that could have been handled privately and or when he won he could have made a speech about how his wife has an autoimmune condition and she’s absolutely beautiful.
I agree with everything you said except giving the Oscar back. Why should he? Before the slap, he earned it. If they haven’t retroactively asked for Weinstein/Allen/Affleck/Pitt’s Oscars, they need to table that discussion. Because that’s what would need to happen next since they are so concerned about their award being associated with an assault or abuse.
Honestly, because so many people are coming for his head and are threatening it anyway. He knows he earned it. Send it back and be done with it/them. That may be the only thing to keep him from getting charged with something at this point. And it may be the only thing that “white Hollywood elites” would think was sufficient to let him back into their presence one day.
Also thank you for bringing up Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, etc. I am so grossed out the narrative is that since none of whatever they did was shown live at the Oscars it doesn’t matter. I wonder how women in Hollywood feel right now about this mess? Cause I would be taking notes on how many people think that certain people should keep Oscars.
ETA: And Hollywood would welcome Johnny Depp back happily at the Oscars if he was in a movie that was actually critically acclaimed. They are some hypocrites.
Whoopi Goldberg has said, point blank, that they will NOT be taking Smith’s Oscar away. He earned it.
This is the best thing to happen to Chris Rock and he knows it. I said the other day he’s loving the attention and fake love. This 15 minutes of hyperfame won’t last more than a couple of weeks. He’s not really funny and I bet people will want refunds for his overinflated shows.
It’s strange to me that Denzel and Tyler (both my faves) saw it fit to speak and calm Will, while Rock was left in the wind.
If you go back you will see that Denzel did speak with Chris in the immediate aftermath.
They did talk to him at the show. Chris I think is saying since then no one has reached out to talk to him so don’t believe anyone claiming that they talked to him and things are now fine.
That spoke volumes for me, but I don’t know these people. I wondered how much Chris is liked by some of black Hollywood given the response at the awards and his jokes over the years.
Too much blackfishing going on on social media….folks need to stop pretending to be someone they are not.
What’s blackfishing?
It makes sense to me that they dealt with the person who was yelling and crying first. I think they tried to keep the situation from escalating, and Chris seemed to have his head together more than Will.
@Joy, please take a moment to consider some of these claims coming from everywhere. It is really not certain what’s going on behind closed doors. Like Kaiser said, no one really knows who’s spoken to who and when.
Chris Rock was on stage and then backstage, not in the audience, so people in the audience would not have been near enough to him at the time to do or say anything. Will Smith, the man who was assaulting people and swearing at people, was in the audience and needed to be calmed down. Other than Smith’s own claims about what was said to him, we only know that people spoke to him. We have no idea what was actually said, whether they were supportive or whether they were calmly telling him his behavior was inappropriate and he needed to knock it off.
Not sure why Denzel, Tyler or anyone else needs to play mediator at this point. Chris has known Will & Jada for years. If he wants to apologize, he can and will. Doesn’t seem like he wants to which is not surprising coming from him. And there’s reasons why no one has reached out to him…and I’ll just leave it at that. IYKYK.
Yes there is. Look this man has come at Michelle Obama about her hair. He does not sit around standing up for Black women even a little bit. He should not have been slapped end of story. But people trying to claim that Chris was just making a joke and not mocking/punching down on Jada are working my nerves.
It doesn’t matter if he knew why she as bald headed. He’s still Black and has made plenty of jokes about other very famous Black women and their hair before.
He’s mocked Beyonce, Michelle Obama, Jada, etc.
This! We have in the US a whole ass law now making black women’s hair a protected class against discrimination. Chris knows better than to come for a black woman’s lack of hair.
It was not a joke. As soon as I read Chris has history insulting Jada, I knew it was code. Just as southerners say bless your heart when they mean kiss my ass or fuck you, G.I. Jane 2.0 was not a compliment. Chris is a very clever man who has become rich and famous using words. The fact that he got Will to laugh initially was just an added twist of the knife. Pretending it was a joke and compliment is definitely not funny. It’s on brand for a bully.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
We don’t really know that no one has reached out to him since that night. In fact, I’d be really surprised if Denzel hasn’t tried speaking to him again.
But as you said, MellyMel, if no one has reached out, reasons exist. And anyone familiar with Chris’s comedy through the years should know what those reasons are.
I hate violence, and my main sympathies lie with Jada. A childhood friend of mine was diagnosed with alopecia in the mid 20teens. Unlike Jada, my friend does not have the confidence to face the world bald. Each hairpiece she acquires needs to be dyed and styled to mingle with the hair she does have, and hairdressers often have little experience with this.
Chris Rock has uttered plenty of harsh, gross comments as “comedy,” which are not my style of humor. However, even if this is his first/ last/ only time, I abhor Will Smith’s slap-happy response to said “humor.”
In the Netherlands, Will Smith is the one who has the most admiration and sympathy of the far right, not Chris Rock. The former occupies “white/r” spaces in film and TV, is lighter skinned, protected his wife/ “what’s his”… in fact, while there are many voices from all sides condoning Will actually hitting Chris, Will still enjoys a fair bit of understanding. Will is simply more popular. Chris is absolutely not a perfect victim, and in this situation he’s paying the price. The far right is actually upset at Chris for not doubling down and making more “jokes”–he is being called weak for this. This seems to be very different from what many of you are saying here.
I’m more a fan of situational comedy. I love the feel good stuff. I hate jokes (sometimes insults) at the expense of someone else. I hate it so much. I can’t even watch.
I don’t like a large percentage of what I’ve read online, and frankly, I can only stomach this site’s back-and-forth. Any time something gets really heated, including me, posts get removed. And I agree with Celebitchy, white people can honestly just bow out and stfd (Jim Carrey). I don’t like the Smiths. I’ve enjoyed watching Will’s work throughout the years, and I’ve always thought of him as a pretty nice, funny and talented man. He has a weird family. I can’t imagine creating a place to air shit about my weird family. I have a weird family.
And I don’t like Chris Rock. He’s loud and obnoxious. He doesn’t have a shut-off valve. Maybe it sucks to be a comedian these days at a volatile time when cultures are clashing and society is subconsciously trying to hammer out what’s right and what’s wrong, what’s acceptable and what isn’t. Most of us real people seem to know, but whatever.
I don’t know Jada, but I bet a million dollars she has ugly cried about losing her hair for weeks and months, maybe years. Because I have. And I’m willing to bet that as a white woman, I have no idea how deep and how monumental pain and hurt can pulse through my veins. Shame on CR for making fun of that. And shame on Will for taking it to the stage. It might have even been more impactful had he waited for an after party to waltz up and slap him then while reminding him he should’ve kept his wife’s name out of his f*cking mouth.
Co-sign with you on this. There are some lines you just don’t cross and the excuses those comedians use to hide behind their hatefulness is ridiculous. I have read where some have said that this is entertainment and if you can’t take it you need to get out of it. Well on the flip side of that statement I would not give up something I love doing because of nasty people however why don’t those same nasty people show a little respect and restraint.
I hate how every time we talk about this we have to state “what Will did was wrong” or “violence is never the answer”–even though it has been the answer for many sources of conflict since the beginning of time from slavery to war and everything in-between. Hell, America was BORN out of violence.
But I digress..
Look, we all know hitting people is wrong but rarely do we discuss the cumulative effect of a history of verbal violence aimed at some of our most marginalized communities. This incident to me feels like a natural culmination of that. This was a tipping point.
This: “we all know hitting people is wrong but rarely do we discuss the cumulative effect of a history of verbal violence aimed at some of our most marginalized communities.”
I couldn’t agree more.
I keep thinking that C.R. made a pass at Jada sometime in the past, and that’s what triggered Will Smith.
That’s an interesting theory. They never dated that we know of, right? There’s a 7 year age gap (Chris is 57, Jada is 50) and there have been rumors of the Smiths having an open marriage (confirmed by Jada’s “entanglement” with her son’s friend). Maybe she had a brief thing with Chris Rock at one point and ever since he’s been passive aggressively going after her with stupid jokes? Will’s rage would make perfect sense in that scenario too. But completely a fabricated theory.
I’m still kind of baffled at how big a story this is and how many people are weighing in on it. I don’t really have an opinion on it myself other than it seems to fit in with how emotionally frail the world seems to be in its entirety maybe due to two years pandemic. I work in education and everyone, teachers and students, seems to be more on edge. There’s more crying, more fighting, more stamping out, shorter tempers. Two of my colleagues were shouting at eachother today, which was so out of character for both and then we had to break up a fight between students. It’s a weird world. I hope Diddy had the right of it.
Chris Rock is going be “quiet and processing things” right up until Netflix or some other media company offers him a boatload of money for a comedy special (and they will) and then he’ll film something that will probably be absolutely chock full of dunks at them and whatever group of people he thinks will earn him laughs. It worked for Dave Chapelle, didn’t it?
He’ll probably go on Joe Rogan to promote it.
Oh definitely. You will be proven a seer, @grabbyhands.
This right here.
I’m surprised that people are giving Chris a hard time for what he said at his show? He made a sort-of joke about it (“how was your weekend?”) and left it at that. Would it be better if he made an issue of it in front of all those people?
Look, I think his joke was awful. But whatever you think of his comedy or him as a person, he DID get smacked on live TV in front of millions of people and he has a right to process it how he wants. He certainly has a right to NOT address it in detail during one of his comedy shows.
He’s kind of damned if you do and damned if you don’t. If he talked about it on Ellen like Wanda Sykes did, people would diss him. So he doesn’t talk about it and people diss him for that, too. So maybe he figures silence is the best option right now.
For the record, I think there is a LOT of overreaction to what Smith did. Take away his Oscar? No, that’s ridiculous. He earned the Oscar. I think when some (including Sykes) say he should have been escorted out, they mean because he was clearly very volatile at the moment. He chose to walk all the way up to that stage and hit someone, then he was cursing him out. Escorting him out would have been a fair response, just to be sure there were no further disruptions.
Anyway, I think Chris handled his comedy show fine. I also think he should apologize to Jada. But like someone else said, he was bullied a lot as a kid. Being hit by Smith in such a public manner, plus all of the uproar that has followed? I could see why it might take him time to process it.
I don’t understand people who say he should have his Oscar taken away. He slapped a man on live TV and yeah it’s pretty bad anyway you look at it. But other Oscar winners have done similar if not worse things, they just weren’t on live TV. Sean Penn has done lots of questionable things including physical altercations (not to mention the whole “who gave this SOB his green card?” when Alejandro Innaritu got the Oscar for Best Picture for Birdman in 2015 and that was on live TV) and he’s gotten to keep his two Oscars. Just one example among many!
Jada wasn’t the only one insulted by Chris on Sunday. This is why people can shut it about Chris Rock’s feelings. He’s always been an asshole.
Indian-American ‘Summer of Soul’ Producer Joseph Patel Calls Chris Rock ‘a F—ing Dick’ for Calling Him ‘White Guy’ During Oscars
https://variety.com/2022/awards/news/summer-of-soul-chris-rock-oscars-1235219657/
Yeah, this doesn’t get enough press – this was so insanely disrespectful and to make it worse, he’d planned that out ahead of time and they STILL let him do it. Like, how does that honor Questlove when you do that?
This is where I come for thoughtful conversation. This is where I come to learn and I have learned so much from you all. Knowing you all are out there truly gives me peace and helps me get through each day. Knowing that there’s others, like me, who try to listen and learn and consider our words and actions to the best of our abilities gives me hope.
I tell my kids, the older you get the more you realize how little you really know. The past 6 years have been an eye opener, especially the last 2!
Thank you for sharing your perspectives. Please know that your words are heard. Please keep talking, please keep sharing. You ARE making a difference. You ARE changing hearts and minds. I have so much love for you. Sincerely. Thank you. ❤️
A missed opportunity on his part, IMO. He’s a comedian and should know humor can be a form of power. If he wanted to defang Will Smith’s actions and bring an end to the conversation earlier, he’d joke about it. Implies to me there’s a lot going on behind the scenes right now.
I think a RTT with Jada, Chris, and Will would be a really good idea. They’re all hurting for different reasons, and it could be really healing and a good learning experience.
Didn’t Chris Rock and Jada have an “entanglement” when working on Madagascar?
I have such mixed emotions about all of this. First, I don’t think it’s particularly funny to joke about a person’s physical appearance. I recognize that there is an additional layer of nuance because Jada is a Black woman. I’m not Black so I don’t really know enough to comment more on that. But suffice it to say, Chris Rock’s “joke” wasn’t funny. And I do think that when you mock someone’s personal appearance, you take the inherent risk that the other person is gonna get upset and react badly. I don’t think Will was right to slap him and I’m not defending the slap, but at the same time I think Chris took a risk that didn’t pay off. As others have noted, he has insulted plenty of other people. I’m not sure I find it credible that he didn’t think somebody was going to snap at some point.
Second, before the slap, Will was laughing at what was said until it was clear Jada took offense. That was when Will got up and slapped Chris. The slap seemed performative to me; Will had to decide how to change his reaction, so I think he had time to consider the ramifications to his image.
Third, I’m not really buying any of the gallantry-based takes. While I’m guessing that Jada’s reaction may have been tempered by the sort of self-monitoring Black women have to do in American society, Jada is a grown woman who has handled her own business, so I’m not really sure what Will getting involved was supposed to achieve.
Finally, there’s the fact that Will Smith and Chris Rock are both grown adults fully capable of running their own lives. It seems like a lot of the social media discussion is about who’s “right” and then, based on that, going after the person who’s “wrong.” I don’t feel like either Chris or Will was fully in the right or fully in the wrong and so I’m just not sure what to be gained by getting in the middle of it. So if they want to let it die and handle it in-house, I’m good with that resolution for them and we can all have a more principle-based conversation about the violence on someone else’s behalf/mocking someone’s appearance issues.
I’m glad he didn’t make jokes about what happened. It’s nothing to joke about IMO. His reaction was pretty much what I expected. I didn’t see the show and have not watched any footage. I don’t like it when people make fun of others. Talking about the silly, foolish and crazy crap we all share is one thing but insulting people is something else. Whatever Will was feeling, I get it but his reaction was over the line, he needs help. I like him as an actor and have never heard anything about him going off on people physically or verbally that’s why this is shocking to me. I don’t think what Chris said was okay but he did not deserve to be assaulted and I would think the whole incident has been pretty traumatic for him. Time will tell how all this plays out but I wish the best for all concerned.
Amen.