Let's talk about the Oscar slap...

[Mreader]

I can't believe that @kenny hasn't started a thread on this yet (or did I miss it? I looked first before posting this). I am still wrapping my mind around it. I didn't watch the Oscar's last night, thinking "It's always such a bore" and now this. I think Smith should have been escorted out of the building. What are your thoughts?

 

[Ionysis]

Whatever way you look at it, it’s assault.

He could have “used his words” as we say to our toddlers. Even if he stormed the stage and said “Jada could whip GI Janes ass - and yours you @ss wipe - and she will the next time you make a joke out if someone’s autoimmune disease” - that would have been… well not illegal.

The whole incident just smacked of Kanye. Maybe Will needs to take his meds as well!

 

[stracci2000]

I'm thinking it was staged.
Why would someone as smart as Will Smith do this? I can see fisticuffs after the show maybe, but during?

 

[MamaBee]

It wasn’t right to make a joke out of a medical condition. That was pretty awful..
I don’t think it was staged..I think he lost his temper. That was a hard slap. He should have been escorted out of the building.

 

[dk168]

Long long time ago, a gentleman would have challenged the offender to a duel till death to defend the lady's honour/reputation, etc. etc...

The so-called joke was crass and thoughtless, IMHO; how would he like it if the table was turned???

Will Smith was wrong to resort to physical violence; however, on this occasion, I believe Chris Rock deserved it.

DK

 

[Ionysis]

Apparently Will witnessed his father violently abusing his mother and always regretted not defending her as a child. So I imagine this may have fed into his behaviour, especially after a few drinks, which no doubt was the case.

 

[LightBright]

I don‘t support any kind of violence, so Will Smith was wrong not to have addressed the issue with words. However, Chris Rock has even done a “TV special” on Black Women’s hair (getting points from Hollywood while clearly NOT GETTING IT) and should know that all women are sensitive about not having enough, having too much, losing “what you thought you looked like“ due to illness etc. Hair is a big time sensitive issue that he should not have poked fun at.
I also don’t believe in censorship or initimidating comedians but IMO, a male poking fun at WOMEN on a global glamour show seems a noxious cheap shot. Will Smith knew that his wife (he, and their family also) were likely triggered and traumatized. Personally, I would have had to “say something” if this was my child, sister or mother for example. This doesn’t excuse violence, but I believe the whole thing was Chris Rock’s fault, because of a totally tone deaf line.

 

[mrs-b]

It's never a case of "he deserved it". Ever. I've heard too many men explain how a woman deserved to be raped. If it's assault, it's assault.

As someone with auto immune, having people find the humor in the situation works for me. And GI Jane was the ULTIMATE bad arse. So if I was suffering from something debilitating and someone made a comical comparison between me and someone super awesome *specifically* because of my AI - I'd think that was EXCELLENT.

And besides - Chris Rock is a comedian, doing a bit at the Oscars, where historically the hosts ALWAYS make fun of their fellow industry members. If you can't stand one very mild joke about your hair - gees Louise - we've all become a tad precious.

And as for Will Smith - who believes he's been called by God to protect people - while sobbing and talking about love - yeah - um - dude, you need to calm down.

I've seen so many of my fellow Peach Sisters (endometrial cancer patients) make light of their shiny bald heads, and they look nowhere near as fabulous as Jada P-S. If they can laugh - maybe she should learn to take herself a little less seriously. She doesn't have alopecia totalis or alopecia universalis - she has alopecia areata, meaning she hasn't lost her body hair and still, apparently, has her eyebrows and eyelashes. Her hair loss will probably also come and go and can benefit from treatments. And without doubt, with or without Chris Rock's comment, she would have been on every single best dressed Oscars list out there because she looked STUNNING. It's not as if she needs to hang her head in embarrassment because of the way she looks.

I'm with Maria Shriver on this one:

"We should never get to a place where we sit and watch a movie star hit someone on global television then, moments later, get a standing ovation while talking about love. #WillSmith #Oscars"

 

[PinkAndBlueBling]

Why can Will Smith smack someone and then get up and talk about love and they applaud him?! WTF??? So bizarre and inappropriate. CR's joke was lost on me. I had to google it. It's so telling that we accept violence and move on as if it never happened. Was it seemingly OK because of his celebrity? Defending his wife? WHY????

If they don't want obnoxious comments, don't ask Chris Rock to speak. There's SO much wrong with what happened by both men. They are celebrities and in the spotlight by choice. All of them. But, OK....talk about love and cry after being "Mr. Tough Guy." Sorry, but Mr. Smith needs help.

 

[Karl_K]

He needs to be given a medal for in this day and age acting like a real man. Delivered the message loud and clear but did not over deliver it.
Then crying about it so take the medal away.

 

[Bonfire]

I for one am sick and tired of men‘s (comedians or otherwise) jokes, comments, remarks, etc. about women’s physical appearances, body, wardrobes, etc.
I don’t care if that’s Chris Rock’s shtick or that it’s become commonplace roasting the actors in the audience.
The fact that Jada is gorgeous doesn’t make the remark less offensive either.

Edit to add: I don’t think the incident will hurt any of their careers either.

 

[Mreader]

I cannot tell if @Karl is kidding or not...

 

[Mreader]

I think it was a crappy joke especially if he knew about her condition (and I am actually wondering if he knew...) but assault is assault period. That ridiculous speech - omg I just watched it. Unbelievable. Again I don't think he should have been allowed to be there for the remainder of the ceremony.

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

Yeah, Will laughed at the joke before he saw Jada roll her eyes.
Will decided to make it all about him and go full aggro after the fact.
He is off his rocker, and that ridiculous performance 'Laurence of Arabia' Scientology speech that he made everyone sit through for seven minutes was a secondary assault.

 

[Mreader]

I'm thinking it was staged.
Why would someone as smart as Will Smith do this? I can see fisticuffs after the show maybe, but during?

It definitely was NOT staged - there are some uncensored versions on Euro and Australian TV; Will was definitely pissed.

 

[Mreader]

Yeah, Will laughed at the joke before he saw Jada roll her eyes.

YES I meant to make this point and forgot. He was totally smiling and laughing, Jada looked grim, then he went and slapped Chris Rock.

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

YES I meant to make this point and forgot. He was totally smiling and laughing, Jada looked grim, then he went and slapped Chris Rock.

Yup, and then decided to punish the world with that speech. Honestly, I think he's feeling a wee bit sensitive because of their dirty laundry airing out earlier this year, methinks.

 

[Lookinagain]

I agree with @mrs-b.
I don't know if Chris Rock even knew that Jada suffers from alopecia. I haven't heard one way or the other if he did or didn't. I didn't know. I don't follow Will Smith and his wife so didn't know about her condition. So perhaps he thought it was some kind of "fashion statement" and made the G. I. Jane comment. Whether it's appropriate for a man to comment on a woman's appearance is a different story in a normal situation, but this was a comedian at the Academy Awards and as @mrs-b says, making jokes about attendees is expected. And most take it in stride.
I did hear that there may be some bad blood between Smith and Rock going back a few years when Chris Rock also hosted and made some kind of joke about the Smiths (who were not there at the time) but I don't know what that joke was and how much this played into Will Smith's reaction.
That said, I think Will Smith should have been removed from attendance. If he didn't like the "joke" he should have dealt with it in private and not commit an assault on a public, televised stage. And I think Chris Rock recovered from the assault rather well.

 

[oldcutclubmember]

I saw the unedited version and after he returned to his seat, he shouted to Christ Rock twice “Keep my wife’s name out of your f—ing mouth.” He should have just done that in the first place instead of resorting to physical battery.

I think Christ Rock should file a police report and pursue criminal charges and let Will Smith deal with it in criminal court.

That being said, I think it may have been staged as Chris Rock didn’t try to avoid the slap at ALL given that it took Will Smith some time to walk on stage towards him and is almost leaning towards Will Smith right before the slap.

ETA: a photo I found on IG

 

[PinkAndBlueBling]

He is off his rocker, and that ridiculous performance 'Laurence of Arabia' Scientology speech that he made everyone sit through for seven minutes was a secondary assault.

I'm glad you said that because I've always thought he was nuts, but I didn't have the balls to say it here.
Who the hell declares themselves a vessel of god, ffs?!?!?!?

 

[Matata]

I don't understand why Smith was permitted to accept his award on air. An announcement should have been made about the winner and a statement given that due to the actions of Will Smith, he'd be given his award in private.

 

[Lookinagain]

I saw the unedited version and after he returned to his seat, he shouted to Christ Rock twice “Keep my wife’s name out of your f—ing mouth.” He should have just done that in the first place instead of resorting to physical battery.

I think Christ Rock should file a police report and pursue criminal charges and let Will Smith deal with it in criminal court.

That being said, I think it may have been staged as Chris Rock didn’t try to avoid the slap at ALL given that it took Will Smith some time to walk on stage towards him and is almost leaning towards Will Smith right before the slap.

ETA: a photo I found on IG

Chris Rock is not pressing charges per the news today.
I saw it live last night and a few times on TV today and I disagree that it was staged. I think that photo from IG is misleading. Chris Rock was laughing as Smith walked up the stage and probably had no idea what was coming. Smith was laughing at the joke just minutes before as others have noted. Several people who were in attendance were on TV today saying that the slap was so loud you could hear it even if you were sitting far away. And the Academy is investigating and potentially censuring Smith.
From this photo you can see that Smith put his body into the slap and look at the expression on Chris Rock's face. And Smith had a very smug look on his face as he walked away.

 

[RMOO]

I waver back and forth. First viewing - this was staged. Second viewing with the audio - hmm maybe not. Third viewing - looks like he hit Chris Rock on the shoulder never meeting his cheek, and anyone can fake anger (they are performers after all.)

 

[FL_runner]

I don't understand why Smith was permitted to accept his award on air. An announcement should have been made about the winner and a statement given that due to the actions of Will Smith, he'd be given his award in private.

I will take things a step farther- if you assault someone, at the ceremony no less, should an actor be disqualified? You may be a great actor but… are we going to say that famous people can go around committing crimes and then get awards and acclaim like it’s no big deal? Would it have mattered if it had been a female presenter?

I did not previously think much of Will Smith one way or the other but the “love made me do crazy things” line seems very much like the things abusers say. And the speech seemed really out there.

Chris Rock made a tasteless joke, but knowing his comedy it’s not surprising that he was poking fun at guests in the audience. I think a secondary conversation needs to be had about whether comedians should be hosting the academy awards going forward- it’s an awards ceremony not a standup comedy night. He appears to have carried on well, but imagine how awful he felt!

 

[Bonfire]

Good points all @FL_runner !
Maybe after the Academy has a chance to reflect, they could take his award back?
Or they don’t mind unhinged drama, look how much attention it’s getting in the media. I do think they need to respond to the assault that took place onstage by the winner of one of the top categories.

 

[Lookinagain]

Good points all @FL_runner !
Maybe after the Academy has a chance to reflect, they could take his award back?
Or they don’t mind unhinged drama, look how much attention it’s getting in the media. I do think they need to respond to the assault that took place onstage by the winner of one of the top categories.

I was just listening to a few people discussing this on the news and one of them arguing that people like Harvey Weinstein, Mel Gibson, etc. still have their awards so why take back Will Smith's? Are they going to take back awards from everyone who does something wrong?
I don't know the answer to this. Does it matter that Will Smith did this at the awards ceremony instead of his private life. I gather the Academy has what is supposed to be a strict rule against violence, but I don't know how far that rule reaches into someone's life. It will be interesting to follow this. And whether Smith gets to present the award to the Best Actress winner next year, which would be the normal rotation.

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

I was just listening to a few people discussing this on the news and one of them arguing that people like Harvey Weinstein, Mel Gibson, etc. still have their awards so why take back Will Smith's? Are they going to take back awards from everyone who does something wrong?
I don't know the answer to this. Does it matter that Will Smith did this at the awards ceremony instead of his private life. I gather the Academy has what is supposed to be a strict rule against violence, but I don't know how far that rule reaches into someone's life. It will be interesting to follow this. And whether Smith gets to present the award to the Best Actress winner next year, which would be the normal rotation.

Well, there is definite merit to the question, but in this instance they didn't do their deeds on the actual stage of the Oscars ceremony, that puts it in different purview. He should be barred from presenting.

 

[yssie]

These are actors.
Their greatest skills are faking emotions and actions and reactions.
And these guys are exceptional actors so their fakes are ultra-realistic!!
100% staged, IMO!!
And now they’re getting alllll the attention they wanted.

 

[Gussie]

Agree @yssie. The Oscar's ratings have been dropping for years. What a way to get some airtime! I guess I have become cynical too - I really think award ceremonies are a bit self-important. Not that I wouldn't die to wear some of the jewels though!

 

[Mreader]

I’m really surprised so many think it is staged; it really didn’t seem that way. Hmmmm. Well The Academy is launching a formal review so they think it’s real…

Academy 'Condemns' Will Smith's Actions at 2022 Oscars, Launches 'Formal Review Around the Incident' — People

As listed in the Academy's Standard of Conduct document, unacceptable conduct includes "physical contact that is uninvited and, in the situation, inappropriate and unwelcome"

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