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Will Smith slaps Chris Rock at Academy Awards Ceremony

Magna

Well-Known Member
V.I.P Member
The slap heard around the world....

I haven't watched the Oscars in years but saw online that during the Oscars ceremony actor Will Smith (who won an Oscar that evening) walked up on stage during the live ceremony and slapped presenter and comedian Chris Rock across the face for a joke that Chris Rock made about Will Smith's wife's hair. She shaved her head due apparently in part from having an alopecia condition (hair loss).

I'm interested in seeing opinions here on the subject.

Some people are lauding Will Smith as a hero, a gallant and chivalrous man who defended his wife after she was insulted and believe that Chris Rock deserved being hit.

Others view Will Smith as out of line and inappropriate and that violence isn't an acceptable response to words.

Some are saying that it's a display of so called "toxic masculinity" and has no place. Do some people who normally believe "toxic masculinity" is a prevalent problem in society today also laud Will Smith for what he did? That would be hypocritical. You can't have it both ways.

What are your thoughts on the subject?
 
For some reason l watched last nite and was happy that it was more of a mixture of different people being represented.

I did witness the funk going down and was disappointed in Will Smith using abusive behavior. I believe it's never right to strike someone unless you are fighting for your life. He then sat down and continue yelling at Chris Rock. I also think it was wrong of Rock to not research Jada and make sure she didn't have a medical issue before the reference to the movie he mentioned.
 
I’m in the middle. Yes I think it was a bit extreme for Will Smith to hit Chris Rock but Chris did make an insensitive joke about a very touchy subject.
 
Mrs. Smith, famously, has been somewhat less than monogamous; this doesn't seem to warrant Mr Smith's reaction--slapping someone to defend your wife's honor is very traditional, and if we're going traditional here, you need to have honor to defend. And the proper etiquette is -- *SLAP* - "Thanks, I needed that--" and it's done outside. We have forgotten how to politely & courteously rough up other people.

Now--Not many people watch the Oscars; if Mr Smith had let it slide, no one would know about the joke next morning really. But since he did have to walk up on stage & slap Mr. Rock, we will all be seeing reposts of it for the next seven or eight years, and Mrs. Jada Smith will forever be the G.I. Jane of the Internet.
 
Stupid joke responded to by even stupider action followed by elaborate disingenuous but required apologies.
 
I'm also seeing a lot of online comments of people asking why Will Smith wasn't escorted out of the building after he hit Chris Rock and comments wondering if the Academy will take back Will Smith's Oscar.

I believe it's a true statement to say that society in general has devolved to a point that a significant number of people believe it's within their right to resort to violence against someone if they feel the person offended them. There's some famous quote out there that goes something like: "Your right to be offended stops or doesn't extend to my body" (and vice versa). What would the world be like if being subjectively offended by words gave a person license to physically assault someone else?
 
edit: Sorry i had chris rock mixed up with chris brown. And apparently chris rock suffers ptsd from physical abuse in his childhood, so its not okay what will smith did.
 
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I don't watch award shows for this very reason, but saw it all over the news this morning. The thing is, Will Smith in his acceptance speech had some words of truth about being an actor and then being made fun of by other actors which no one talks about:

"...And I know to do what we do, you’ve got to be able to take abuse, and you’ve got be able to have people talk crazy about you. In this business, you’ve got to be able to have people disrespecting you and you’ve got to smile and pretend like that’s okay."

He was right about this. Why is it okay for others to offend you just because you're a public figure? Never understood Hollywood in this regard... these hosts just make cringy jokes at others expense, many whom are in the audience, some jokes that hit below the belt, but I never find them funny. Just so cringy. It's supposed to be an award show, not a celebrity roast.

But Will Smith did laugh at the joke before Jada side-eyed him. Seems like he was trying to "make amends" otherwise face the hurricane at home :laughing:.
 
Thing is, he laughed at the joke, and it was his wife who looked sour during the joke.

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I don't know really - I'm on the fence about it. Chris' joke wasn't that offensive, and Will's response was clearly an overreaction.

It's an obvious statement to make, but you shouldn't slap anyone, as much as you might want to. It might end up costing him his oscar. Mind you, the oscars are probably the worst place to do something like that. I don't think it'll be career ending, but it's not really a positive thing.

But after he sat back down and then shouted at Chris - I'll be honest, not only was the atmosphere very tense, but it seemed like an over the top and rather childish reaction.

Defending your wife's honour is an archaic concept, especially when it comes to a joke. Some have romanticised this idea of defending a woman's honour - but surely that's just patriarchal nonsense? I've lost count of the amount of times I've been the butt of someone's joke, and I've never decided to slap someone.

In this day and age of suing and cancel culture, it's probably the worst thing you could do. Supposedly Chris Rock isn't pressing charges, so now it's just up to the people who run the Oscars to decide how this plays out.

I did enjoy Chris' reaction though. At the end of the day, you've got to laugh that stuff off. But then again, I'm not a fighter. Would I laugh it off if I'd been slapped? Who knows, but on this occassion; and rather paradoxically - Chris ended up being the bigger man imo.

Ed
 
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Part of me is now wondering why Jada didn't just put a wig on before showing up to the event?
I'm pretty certain she can afford a good one.

Not saying that what Chris said was okay, but Stand-up comedians have a habit of making fun out of everyone to varying degrees - from simply jibes to more provocative takes and from the Average Joes/Janes to the most powerful individuals on the planet (with celebrities falling somewhere in-between).
As such, you're probably gonna receive some flack at some point and attacking the comedian is likely just going to give them more material to work with, all while making you look pretty thin-skinned and short-tempered.
 
I think given the current political climate, Chris Rock could have used his prestige to comment on the Ukraine issue. Attacking an female who is clearly suffering was uncalled for.
 
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I've seen posts from different people around the internet suggesting this was staged. I have no idea myself if it was or not, but award show stunts are not new. Remember when Sacha Baron Cohen, as Bruno, got under Eminem's skin at some award show a few years back, and it turned out they were both in on it?
 
Is Chris Rock capable of this? Quite possibly. Had the Oscar ratings dropped precariously in the past couple of years. Yes. I believe so because people in our neighborhoods weren't being portrayed demographically.
 
I think given the current political climate, Chris Rock could have used his prestige to comment on the Ukraine issue. Attacking an female who is clearly suffering was uncalled for.

Personally, I'd rather they not focus on political issues and instead focus on what they're there for - their contributions to the film industry.
If people want to hear about the ongoing situation in Ukraine, Global Warming, COVID or any other political issue, they can hear about it on the News (be it on TV, in the Newspapers, Online, etc.); they don't need a bunch of celebrities to be reminding them at an event which isn't about any of those things.

I think this is one of the reasons why people stop watching award shows now - be it the Academy Awards, the BAFTAs, the Oscars, the Golden Globes, etc. - as it was supposed to be a celebration of the film industry. It's not an excuse for celebrities to berate the audience (many of whom are struggling to make ends meet) and tell them "you need to do better" before giving speeches where they bemoan how hard their lives are; all while they're dressed up in outfits that cost more than our homes, are driven to this posh event in question via limousines and spend most of the night laughing, patting each other on the back and drinking champagne.
Heck, even Ricky Gervais made a joke about it in 2020 at the Golden Globes, which I'm sure most of you have at least seen clips of.
 

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