So Today day at the Oscars American actor Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage. This was after a joke about his wife’s, Jada Pinkett Smith, medical condition--Alopecia (which is the medical term for baldness). This has created an uproar on social media, with two different camps going at each other (the perfect distraction on a Monday morning, don't you think?). A lot of questions have been raised:
My takes: All that transpired yesterday was mainly a reflection of a brewing beef between the Smiths and Chris Rock for the past six years. Yesterday was only the perfect opportunity to act on that beef and I will say Chris shot himself in the leg here. I guess he wasn’t expecting Will to react in the way he did. Will has been on the receiving of public humiliation and he has taken it all in his strides. I guess he wanted the world to see a different side of him.
A quick back story, 6 years ago a group of black actors boycotted the Oscars. Their grievance was that the award had snubbed black actors for over 88 years. Chris Rock happened to have hosted the Oscars that year and made a lot of jokes about the issues, and the Smiths, which must have left some bad blood between both parties.
Fast forward to yesterday, Rock decided to take another cheap shot at the Smiths. This time it earned him a slap. To be fair, it was quite a mild joke that did not warrant Will's reaction. Worst things have been said about the Smiths so I was shocked by Will’s reaction. I guess the man was fed up with all the jokes and memes about him and his family. Unfortunately, he had to set an example with Chris.
In my opinion, that slap had nothing to do with defending his wife or family. It was only a perfect excuse to react and Will over-reacted because his action was disproportionate to the supposed aggression/trigger, and he did so on one of the most important nights of his life. Will Smith will not be remembered as the Best Actor at the 94th Academy Award, but as the man who slapped a comedian over a joke.
Will the jokes stop?
Certainly not! In showbiz, the best way to kill a subject is by ignoring it completely. WIll just show he could be rattled and many more will come for him and his family. Plus he publicly assaults a public figure, which will certainly not go down well with his fanbase. In the next few weeks, we will see people pull out clips, tweets, etc to build arguments about the subject. I did not even know about Chris’ monologue six years ago at the Oscar until today.
Chris Rock has refused to press assault charges against Will Smith, which in my opinion has made him the bigger man in this situation. He did show some level of professionalism on stage after the incident which I must commend. As we can see, not everyone can maintain their composure after being violated either verbally or physically.
I do not believe in violence. I have seen how people die over the pettiest of things. This might seem over the top but what if Chris had slumped after the incident or retaliated, making a fool of both black men on national television. It certainly would be a different conversation we would be having. It won’t matter if he was defending his family or not.
Also, I hate this narrative that Will was defending his wife. It is quite appalling how we tend to justify toxic behaviour when it suits our agenda. I also hate the fact that men have to be put in such an awkward position. Clearly from the clips, WIll found that whole joke funny and only switched when he noticed his wife did not. I guess in his bid not to appear weak he overreacted. He would have simply addressed the issues during his speech or even opted to take the stage to express his discontent with the joke. That would have sent a stronger message.
Also, this sets the black community back. They've clamoured for so long to be recognized and accepted in a supposed white-dominated sphere and this is what one of the most powerful black men in the industry does with his platform. This whole incident has opened a can of worms and is going to bring up a lot of important conversations this week. One of such questions will be; Are entertainers safe to perform? What stops the next person from going on stage to assault an entertainer for saying something they do not like? I find this quite disturbing.
What are your thoughts? Share with me in the comment section.
on a lighter note, my favourite meme currently:
LOL
Hahhaha
Downloaded lol
My only thought when I saw it was that Will Smith is telling his fans violence is ok. I quipped on Twitter:
"Yes, kids, violence is the answer" —Will Smith
The joke may have been in bad taste, but it was a joke. Insult comics have told far far worse things (and Rock isn't an insult comic, he just does jokes that border on it sometimes). And in another light, it could be taken as praise: as GI Jane was a tough woman and an inspiration. Rock might have responded with that, but I'm sure he was both shocked and trying to resist firing back with all the zingers that were filling his head; he was trying to be professional, in other words.
I think this reflects very badly on Smith. It also reflects badly on Hollywood, that they would allow an assault to happen and not do anything. If a a non-actor had assaulted Rock, security guards would have been all over him. But Smith not only doesn't get escorted out, he gets to give his speech later. Great lesson, Hollywood. Violence is the answer, I guess.
Well said. We should not condone violence because it will bolster its perpetuity, even on the big screen. Chris was simply doing his job as a comic. Although, I would say he should have let this one pass given his history with the Smiths. However, it in no way justifies Will's actions.
In reality, two wrongs don't make a right. Both of them are wrong in their own ways. Irrespective, I think people should be very sensitive especially with others.
The difference here is one can actually go to jail for their action while we can debate the words of the other.
As I said, it has little to do with the joke and more about the beef that has been brewing between both parties because people have said worst things to their faces and they've laughed about it.
Comedy in its essence is about making light of serious issues. If we go about hitting people who say things we don't like, we create an avenue for violence, which fortunately no one has the monopoly of ...
I understand you, I particularly enjoyed how you disected the matter. The beef wouldn't really be a focal point, the slap would. We all know that comedy sometimes digs deep into the private lives of people which might not be so cool. Its a wake up call for comedians to cultivate perceptive filters. Nevertheless, the slap wasn't the solution
For me, it sets a bad precedence for things to come.
How does a comedian or satirist talk about sensitive issues without fear of being lynched by people who don't agree with their opinions?
I won't try to whitewash the situation by claiming both parties are wrong because the gravity of their actions is polarising.
You don't go with a gun to a battle of words.
To be honest, anyone could have done that out of outrage. I have no blame for any of them, violence can be as mere words, doesn't have to be physical. That joke was an expensive one for his wife, and he responded emotionally too.
Looking at it on the flip side, if that comedian wasn't Chris, what if it was a white, would it have also played out that way? I believe yes, it would have, that's if comedian can muster the courage to joke about a black mans wife tho.
They were both wrong. Two wrongs never balance out.
I don't think that was the case here because he was laughing at the joke. I for one would not have done what he did. It's stupid to be honest, for someone with a lot to lose here.
Well, in this scenario, the act and reaction are disproportionate to each other.
This is where I disagree. All of the things Chris would have joked about this was by far the least offensive. So like I said, I don't believe it is about the joke.
Again, I disagree. Worst things have been said to the Smiths in their face (even during this same event) and they took it as it was--a joke. He certainly wouldn't have reacted that way to a white comedian or even a lady. So where is the line drawn?
Chris is a comedian. Part of his job resume is making jokes about people, situations, etc. If you have a low threshold for jokes then you shouldn't bee in an event anchored by a comedian.
Well, one committed a felony while the other cracked a joke. I can't equate both actions
Well like they say, the cup gets full someday, I m not saying he did it right to slap Chris, Chris is so much as a star as him. That's really wrong.
But if he laughed at it, and suddenly changed as we all saw in the video, it doesn't change anything, neither does it make him dishonest with his emotions, it is his emotions, not our to speculate over, we often smile at things we aren't happy about. He is a star there and had to laugh at first as the outcome would have him but seeing his wife turn the look brought out what he couldn't control there.
It's left to anyone to make out obit what they would tho. But some jokes are as painful as a blow. That they smile don't mean its painless.
Comedians should always draw the line with people's emotions, not to sound rude or make sensitive part of people a laughing stoke. It really is not healthy. I ve seen people go depressed cause they were laughed at and even attempt suicide
No.. you cant really mean this, so comedy is for a few who can withstand a laughing gaze. Common, we are not all perfect to laugh at each other. They be been true a lot already, shouldn't that be a reason to stay of them. It's pretty sad they are both blacks tho.
Your emotions do not justify assault which many are choosing to ignore. An assault is a felony which can earn you jail time, end your career, etc.
I was fortunate to have taken tort law in college and one of the few exceptions for assault and battery is that the act and reaction must be proportionate.
If you call me a fool and I call you a fool, our actions are said to be proportionate.
If I call you a fool and you hit me. This has changed the dynamics of things.
Because I said something that hurts you don't mean you should harm me physically. That's the way of cultists and abusers. If we accept this narrative we create an even bigger problem of intolerance.
Which is the whole point of comedy--to make light of serious situations so people can better cope with it. Of all the things Chris could joke about today, this was by far the least offensive. He did not joke about the relationship which has been a subject of ridicule.
Being angry is not a pass for stupid actions. I have done a few dumb things out of anger and I own them.
By the way, this is him taking shots at other people (which I don't have problem with because why? It's comedy):
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In this case Jagger should probably find him his share of his slap.
Man, it’s interesting to talk about but I don’t think this was a big deal, I said it on Twitter but I’m mostly mad that Will Smith got me paying attention to the Oscars.
It was a terrible joke….not only because it was insensitive but also because it was not funny at all. And if you wanna attack people like that, you have to be more likeable than Chris Rock, and show love when you do it.
Not saying it should be against the rules to roast people, but we can roast the roaster harder when he’s a jerk.
Definetly bad blood between these two before. I could sense that from the interaction.
Will came across as a bit unstable…but when you really sit down and think about his life, he probably is still stuck in his role from the last movie he did.
I’m not someone on the inside of this issue obviously, so I can't really feel what black men or women might feel when they see this, but I hope people can stop worrying about how this kind of thing might set black people back. These two guys all individuals and everyone fucks up sometimes. I think most of us can see that. It really sucks that a few people out there might make racial stereotypes based on dumb shit like this but for what it’s worth, I haven’t seen or heard any of that and I know a lot of different kinds of people.
I just get uncomfortable about people calling this assault? Like do we really want to rely on the law to solve everything? I don’t wanna get smacked by someone, but Chris is not a helpless little kid and there was a room full of people to come to his aid if it got ugly. Maybe if he was half his height or in a wheelchair I’d call it assault.
Are we gonna expect people to behave perfectly all of the time?
Anyway, thanks for sharing your thoughts and giving me a chance t share mine.
I am going to write about this from a really different angle later today. It’ll be a bit of a wacky connection.
I think this is a really well-thought our perspective, and emphatically agree. I totally get where Will is coming from. As a married man, I get how you could laugh at the joke, the n look over and see your wife’s reaction and say to yourself, shit I gotta do something now or she’ll remember this for the rest of our lives…but as you said, it’s the manner in which he chose to make that statement that was really tragic.
Thank you. I have no problem with him defending his wife. If someone talks smack about the women in my life I certainly would want to throw arms but I am not Will and he has more at stake here: his award, reputation, and risk of jail time (which is unlikely given his status).
I stronger statement would be him going up on that stage and addressing the issue on live television. The conversation would be different now. Chris could have chosen to escalate the situation by throwing arms as well, what a mess that would that have been.
So true! Glad it didn’t get worse, but wish it’d been handled better. And yeah, especially since she publicly blamed her infidelity on him not standing up for her/being present, I could see how this put in him the sting urge to show the world he has what it takes to defend her. Like you said though, would be much better if he’d done it like an adult, after his acceptance speech.
You lost me here, first of all, there's nothing mild about making fun of a medical condition! If it were a patient with cancer you won't refer to it as mild. Jada has spoken about how much it took before she could shave her hair, so making a joke about it is inappropriate.
Yes, Will over-reacted, I believe that it is more just this one joke, also it's mostly not about the beef of 6 years ago, it's the fact that everyone wants to take a jab at Will and his family, make a joke and stuff, they seem to be an easy target and that's not an easy thing to live with. I guess he reached his breaking point. It would have been better if he had talked about it backstage. I do not justify his actions but I understand.
Does that warranty him throwing hands? By the way, Alopecia is baldness, which is common amongst aging homo sapiens. Tagging it as a 'mental condition' is quite intellectually dishonest, in my opinion.
Chris could have been obvious to her supposed medical condition. Plus the joke was about Jada and not Will, which makes his reaction even more outrageous and ego-driven. Will is not a stranger to such jokes as he has made them as well about other people. I am certain he won't have the same energy if it was a woman or white comedian saying the same thing
I am of the opinion that comedians can joke about anything.
I do not believe in censorship because it mitigates free speech and creativity. These comedians share some of the darkest and worst experiences on stage and we neither show compassion nor gauge our reaction. We laugh, unhinged and someway it is a form of relief for the entertainer and the audience.
By the way, this is your man crush doing the same thing decades ago. Ain't karma a bitch
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As I said, I do not justify his actions.
It's a medical condition like I said not mental
Are you suggesting he has a bias against his race, or it will be okay to hit a woman? Also, white comedians apologize before they make any joke about black ppl.
No, they can't! There is a line they shouldn't cross, it's the same way we don't joke about serious health conditions especially when you're referring to a specific, nothing is funny about that.
It's okay to joke about a condition when you're the one experiencing it (dark humour) but not when you have no idea what the other person is going through. It's not about censorship it's about sensitivity.
My man crush? I don't have to crush on him to say my opinion. Also, nobody is saying it's right when Will does it. Also, if it's Karma should it be on Will and not the wife?
typo. Sorry.
Maybe you should listen to Jim Carr
I have heard cancer jokes and even worse. People on the receiving end don't always get triggered. If I was dying I probably would like to joke about than get sobs from people who don't care
It is okay to joke about anything. I am not going to be a gatekeeper of jokes.
Funny how she isn't even the focus of this debate and has said little about it. Mr. Smith is taking the fall here. How convenient
Good Points.
Thank you
The slap that was heard around the world. ✋
lol! Chris expression was priceless