Thank you, @CollegeNerd67. I was struggling to put my feelings into words.
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Without reading every comment - I’d just say this.
Comedy is not without its faults. Comedians make attempts. This one was wrong - meant more for a Comedy Central Roast but it was wrong. That said, Will Smith was laughing.
But yes it was wrong.
I wonder - if he did this in front of millions, how is he at home?
How he was not escorted out, removed by security - I don’t know.
Comedians make jokes. Some hurt. Some miss. It happens.
What we saw was an assault and I say kudos to Chris Rock for holding his dignity like he did vs. attacking back or running off - both would have been justified.
Terrible act on Will Smith’s part.
He could have gone up, grabbed the mic and said how hurtful those comments are. And that would have been appropriate.
Now his squeaky clean image is gone and I worry, frankly, for the safety of his immediate loved ones.
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Imagine if Rock made a joke about Jada’s “entanglement.”
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People act in odd ways when they’re shocked. I’m not surprised he laughed at first. Once when a guy I’d just met tried to kiss me without my consent, I pushed him away and as he slunked off, I said, “Good luck in med school!” What the heck!? What was I thinking?? I think I was still in shock. I didn’t judge people on their reactions after that incident.
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I don’t even think the joke Chris Rock made was particularly cruel, especially in light of the ones Ricky Gervais routinely makes. How many of the people denouncing Rock actually heard him delivering the joke? It wasn’t directly about alopecia, it was about a GI Jane sequel. Why would anyone who wasn’t a serious fan of Jada Smith even know she had alopecia? Will Smith was laughing when the camera flashed on him.
There’s simply no excuse for violence; none. This was pure toxic masculinity dressed up as chivalry.
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I’m thinking at next year’s Oscars (and maybe whatever award show is next up) there will be security guards at each end of the stage. Who would have thought?
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You know, (feel free to disagree) if Chris had said the exact same words and Will did not ever leave his seat or utter any words this would probably be a non-talked about issue today. It might be an awkward moment but truthfully there are usually many of these during an awards show with “comedic” hosts. Most likely we’d wince a little and move on.
But he got out of his seat and opened his mouth.
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Upon further review of the uncensored video, I retract my conspiracy theory that it was all a setup. Neither of them is that good of an actor. Apparently Will Smith did apologize to the Academy during a speech following the events. Not sure how he is going to era that one from our collective memories.
Google “Ricky Gervaise Golden Globes 2020” and notice that nobody slapped him, but he did ask Joe Pesci not to have him whacked.
Not to sound like a wet blanket, but I think the Academy should vet what the presenters and hosts are going to say before the show. That way they can avoid a stupid situation like this one. Will Smith could’ve taken the high road. At the very least he could’ve just left the theater. He could’ve pulled Chris Rock aside backstage and told him that his wife was offended at his joke and maybe to lay off her. If he had done that, it wouldn’t have been a huge deal and the show would’ve gone on. Instead he chose to descend to Chris Rock’s level and cause a scene. I felt worst for Questlove who accepted the Oscar for best documentary right after. His win was completely overshadowed. It’s so pathetic! And two wrongs don’t make a right! Will could’ve been the better man!
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I do wonder how this incident will affect any award shows going forward.
I’m not a fan of mean spirited comments at another’s expense. I especially don’t like mean spirited comments normalized about a woman’s appearance.
Is it time to stop? Will this affect comedy and award show hosting in the future?
Again saying all that, it was absolutely wrong to strike another human being and it was absolutely wrong of Will Smith. Someone I think has spent considerable time on his reasonably clean cut image. Seems out of his public character.
Also wonder if there is background to this story that we the public will never know?
I think it is very unlikely Chris Rock knew about the alopecia. I certainly didn’t know, and I don’t know any men who watch her show/listen to her podcast or would have any idea. This was not on the front page of the newspaper!
I myself did lose my hair just for 2 years, and it was sucky. I have an inkling of how painful this is for her. I feel really badly for her.
But if he didn’t know about the alopecia, it seems a stretch to me to call it a cruel joke (certainly relative to other Oscars comedy). Comparing her to gorgeous Demi Moore who rocked the GI Jane look, and thinking Jada was pulling off a similar fierce, edgy look, just doesn’t seem so cruel. To me it’s only cruel if you know about her condition. (Thoughtless or risky to joke about anyone’s appearance, sure—comedians do it all the time and probably have no idea which jokes might hit a raw nerve because of a situation they don’t understand).
To me, even with a bad joke that hits a painful nerve, the only appropriate response would be to just sit there, with a look of displeasure or a neutral look, and deal with it after the show if you want. Chris Rock sure would have looked like the complete bad guy if the show ended, and the next day Jada or Will came out with a statement on alopecia awareness. If I was him, I’d want to crawl into a hole then. But making any sort of big deal of it at the show only distracts from all the winners and the purpose of the evening. And resorting to assault, well, just shocking and terrible. I am also surprised he wasn’t asked to leave.
ETA: but I don’t know WHO would want to make THAT call 
(to kick Will Smith out of the Oscars, especially when he’s the front-runner for Best Actor). I guess only the one person in charge of the show would have to make that call, not easy!!
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That’s what I’m wondering. Did Chris Rock say that joke during rehearsals, was there something said that it needed to be axed. And he decided to say the joke anyways?
Or did the Smith’s representatives say to Chris Rock’s representatives that Jada was off limits. And he still said the joke?
I just think there is something else going on here. It was a reaction that didn’t really match what was said. Or a very public reaction from someone who’s not known for such.
This wasn’t Kanye!
I do wonder if this will have a lasting impact on WS’s career. I have never seen him as clean cut, and he and Jada repeatedly publicly speak about sensitive, private issues, including their open marriage. I read today that the Smith’s had prior beef with Chris Rock when CR mentioned Jada’s boycott of the Oscars several years ago. As far as mean-spirited comedian jokes go, what CR said seems pretty benign.
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Very different, my husband is Italian, my kids are Italian, the majority of people in my area are Italian, mob jokes are a dime a dozen here. Joking about alopecia is so wrong, Jada has been public about how tough it’s been and how difficult it was to shave her head. I’m sure these celebrities know more about each other than we do, and apparently there was bad blood between them. Will was completely out of line but there is no excuse for the joke, even if not written by him.
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Well we know one thing for sure:
It definitely wasn’t the first Mrs. Banks fault!!!
And she was a better Mrs. Banks.
Clearly, Will was - and still is the problem!!!
I can’t believe they gave him an award later and I can’t believe he got a standing ovation. I can’t believe any of it - frankly.
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Random thoughts about this in no particular order:
- When I 1st saw the video, I didn’t even know that Jada Smith had alopecia.
- I thought Chris Rock’s “GI Jane 2” joke was: (1) a legitimate comment that there’s going to be another GI Jane movie & Jada Smith was cast in it; and (2) a half-baked compliment about her shaved head look
- You know what…many black women purposely wear really short hair like Jada had last night. And they all look lovely. I thought that Jada looked pretty normal.
- Will Smith LAUGHED at Chris Rock’s joke!
- It wasn’t until he looked over at his wife that he realized, “Oh barnacles, she’s mad. I better save face and go defend her honor.” THEN he stormed the stage.
- At first, I thought it was all staged.
- but then realized when Will Smith sat back down and was shouting 4-letter words at Chris Rock and I saw Will Smith’s look on his face…THAT’s when it was obvious that he was serious.
- IF Chris Rock’s joke was meant as a jab at Jada’s alopecia, then yeah, the joke was out of line.
- Will Smith acted like a horse’s butt. So now it’s ok and considered manly to go physically assault somebody because they hurt your feelings? You know what happens to CHILDREN when they do that at school? THEY GET SUSPENDED OR EXPELLED FOR BULLYING.
- We are supposed to look up to Will Smith? Oh please.
- If a REGULAR ADULT did what Will Smith did, then he/she could have been ARRESTED FOR ASSAULT!
- But since it’s a celebrity…oh, I guess it’s ok.
- Will Smith apologizing to the Academy and not to Chris Rock was dumb. Makes him look like an even bigger butt head.
- Chris Rock sure can take a punch/slap/whatever it was.
- After the altercation, Chris Rock improvised on his feet pretty well.
Both of the people involved made dumb choices last night.
And then…Will Smith won the Academy Award for best actor…but everybody’s going to remember him NOT for the award, but for being “that guy who hit somebody on live TV.”
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Well I agree that if Chris Rock knew about the alopecia, then the joke was WAY worse than if he didn’t. I still think it’s unlikely he knew, but perhaps the truth will come out in the coming days!! I can’t wait for each of them to eventually make statements. There is certainly room for both of them to apologize.
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I did read from what seemed to be a reliable source that Chris did not write the joke, the writing team did - no excuse of course - but point being it wasn’t spontaneous. Don’t know how much of the “script” is reviewed before the show…
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Here’s a Facebook post that I thought makes some interesting points:
<<<A few years back, I found a lump in my chest. When I decided to talk about what was happening publicly, it was terrifying. Somehow that made it real. A friend of mine reached out to me right after that because her cancer had just come back, and she was starting chemo again. She was losing her hair for the second time. We met for drinks to talk about it. She told me about how she didn’t feel beautiful anymore. About how she wasn’t sure she could do this again. “Maybe it’s time to just check out.” Before I could even respond, an acquaintance of ours walks up and says, “Hey, baldy!” And rubbed her head.
We both laughed. It wasn’t funny.
I suppose we laughed because that’s what a lot of us do in uncomfortable situations where we don’t know how to stand up for ourselves.
A few weeks later, right before I got my test results, I was out with Tashina and some friends. They were trying to cheer me up and convince me everything would be okay. A friend of ours walked up and made a joke about how he would probably come to my funeral if the cancer got me. Then he said, “if for nothing else to hit on your newly single wife.”
In both of these situations, I saw red. My heart was pounding outside of my chest. I could feel my hands turning into a fist. I wanted to do something violent.
I didn’t.
But the feeling was there. There have been countless situations where people have made jokes at someone else’s expense that made me want to react. Sometimes I’ve stood up against those people with words. Sometimes I’ve sat silently with fear or anger.
Tonight, as I watched Will Smith go through those range of emotions, I felt a lot of empathy. He laughed at the joke that wasn’t funny. I’ve been there. He made s choice that I can understand, even if I don’t think it was the right choice. I think it would have been better if he had used his words instead of his fist. I think it would have made a bigger impact if he had found just the exact right words to say, but he didn’t.
However, I think if we are all honest with ourselves, we’ve had moments where that’s what we wanted to do, even if we didn’t.
Jada has been open about her health struggles for a long time now. It’s been part of the public discourse, and the joke Chris Rock made was in poor taste. It was ableist and cruel. It was the definition of punching down, and that makes it not a joke but bullying.
As I’ve watched some of the public discourse happening, I think there are a lot of things at play here all at once.
First, two things can be wrong at the same time. Will Smiths’ reaction was wrong, but so was Chris Rock’s joke. We can’t lose sight of how wrong what Chris said was just because his wrong was met with another wrong.
When that acquaintance made that joke to my friend, my fear was that she would think this was the final justification for her to choose to no longer life here with us anymore. That was what we were discussing, and then she was met with a cruel joke. At that moment, I was so angry. I made a different choice than Will did at that moment. But we have no idea the conversations that have happened privately between them. Life is not always easy.
I also think racism is playing a huge part in this. I’ve seen so many comments that have made me cringe. You could see it on Denzel Washington’s face; you could see it in Tyler Perry’s reaction, and in the words of Diddy. They knew instantly how public perception was going to be. And I’m seeing it in many of the comments.
I’ve also seen a lot of comments justifying hatred toward Will and Jada because they are open about the non-monogamous structure of their relationship. As if that has anything to do with this? How consenting adults construct their relationship is none of anyone’s business. It certainly doesn’t justify cruelty.
Ultimately, they are famous, and people love to imagine that with fame comes entitlement to their existence. But they are just human beings dealing with pain like everyone else.
I wish Will had just used his words, but he didn’t. He will have to deal with the consequences of that, just as Chris must face the consequences of his cruel joke. But I’m really sad to see some of the exterior conversations happening around this unfortunate situation. I think everyone should take a real step back and realize how cringe it is when you use phrases like, “he should have acted like a professional.” Professionalism has been weaponized against the Black community for a long time. I’ve seen folks make commentary about what Jada should do to conceal her baldness. Let me tell you, right now, Black women’s hair has been weaponized too. So let’s just not.
Two wrongs happened tonight.
Chris Rock made a cruel and ableist joke.
Will Smith chose hands instead of words.
But one wouldn’t have happened without the other. Be mindful that even though Jada and Will are rich and powerful and will likely never hear your words about them. But someone you love who is struggling with their body does near you. They hear you loud and clear. And maybe it’s time the whole world gets a metaphorical slap to the face as a reminder that punching down is never okay.
In moments like this, I’m reminded of the Terry Pratchett quote, “Satire is meant to ridicule power. If you are laughing at people who are hurting, it’s not satire; it’s bullying.”>>>
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