Why Will Smith Slapped Chris Rock Live On TV
It was cringier than Kanye storming Taylor on stage
What happened?
When I saw Will Smith walk onto the Oscars stage towards Chris Rock, I thought nothing of it. I expected a skit, a joke, some sort of physical comedy to play out on stage.
When Will Smith slapped Chris Rock across the face I thought it was all planned. The slap locked rehearsed, exaggerated, over the top. Chris Rock’s initial reaction and even Will Smith’s slightly smiling face as he walked away made me think they were both in on the joke. Clearly, people in the audience thought so too as they laughed and clapped.
But then Will Smith sat back down in the front row and shouted, “Keep my wife’s name out your f***ing mouth!”
“Wow, dude.”
“Yes.”
“It was a G.I. Jane joke.”
The audience is completely silent. Lupita Nyongo, who was sit by Will Smith and on camera throughout, realised immediately this wasn’t a joke based on her expression.
“Keep my wife’s name out your F***ING MOUTH!”
“I’m going to, okay?” Chris Rock seems to want to diffuse the situation. This is the Oscars after all and there’s a whole programme and awards left to present. “O-o-okay, that was uh — the greatest night in the history of television.”
The crowd laughs a little to desperately. Clearly, they too want to move along.
What was the joke?
Weird, I thought. That seemed an exaggeration to a joke. I go back and rewatch Chris Rock’s delivery. He’s spewing jokes here and there, people are laughing, including Will Smith who’s sat in the very front row with his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
After teasing husband and wife, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz, Chris Rock takes a jab at Jada Pinkett Smith.
“Jada, I love ya, G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it.”
On screen, you see Will Smith laugh along with the audience. Jada Pinkett Smith however clearly did not find it funny as she rolls her eyes and stares at Chris Rock unsmiling.
“It’s a joke! That was a nice one. Okay,” Chris Rock concludes moving on.
But then…
“Uh oh-” Chris Rock exclaims as he sees Will Smith marching towards him.
It seems Jada Pinkett Smith exchanged a glance with her husband expressing her displeasure and he ran with it.
Why were Jada and Will upset?
Jada Pinkett Smith revealed in 2018 that she was diagnosed with alopecia, an incurable autoimmune disorder that causes hair loss. It’s why, she states, she began cutting her hair increasingly shorter.
In G.I. Jane, Demi Moore has a shaved head, and so Chris Smith’s joke highlighted the fact Jada Pinkett Smith was bald and making light of her condition. Clearly, and understandably, she wasn’t pleased. It’s plain old hurtful to make fun of a person’s medical condition, isn’t it?
Will Smith, several minutes later, went on to win Best Actor for his role in King Richard. When accepting the award he apologized for the earlier interruption and expressed his desire to be invited back to the Academy Awards next year. He made no mention of Chris Rock.
Was Will’s actions warranted?
Is violence the answer? Absolutely not. Surely, you can express your distaste without laying hands on another person. Personally, I was shocked Will Smith was happy enough for this to transpire on live TV given his generally positive and easygoing personal brand. I mean, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air anyone?
On the other hand, I feel this encourages discussion around all this ‘roasting’ that occurs on award shows — the manufactured comedy so that people watch. Because who actually watches to see people win?
There’s the red carpet for the outfits and then the monologues — does anyone outside of Hollywood actually care who wins?
As of today, Chris Rock hasn’t pressed any charges and neither party has commented on the situation. However The Academy tweeted, “The Academy does not condone violence of any form.”
What are your thoughts? Watch the video here.
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