It’s been a while since I did a Babes Against Bullshit post – Today’s BaBS post was prompted by yesterday’s Oscars where Will Smith moved to plant a slap upon Chris Rock for making a joke about his wife, Jada. I wanted to a second post about this expressing my thoughts on this in more detail.
Now, I have great respect for both Will and Chris. I might not be a big fan of comedy, but it’s their job, and I respect that. Anyway, I do NOT approve of either of their actions yesterday. It was wrong of Chris to make a joke about Jada’s medical condition. It doesn’t matter if he knew about it or not. For many people who have hair loss conditions, it’s a sensitive subject.
According to Evan Real of Page Six, Rock wasn’t aware of Jada’s alopecia, a hair loss condition. Now, I do need to point out that Will actually did laugh at Chris’ joke. However, upon seeing the pissed-off look on his wife’s face, Smith got up and took a swing at the comedian before he [Chris Rock] presented the award for Best Documentary.
Now, I’ve seen an assortment of responses online. Responses range from “the hit could’ve killed Chris” to “it was planned.” The physical attack on Rock was NOT planned ahead of time. You can see it from the response of the audience.
I did a post on the situation yesterday when it was still fresh news. I mentioned that if Rock was white, the incident would’ve been deemed racist. What happened isn’t right from either side. Yes, Smith was protecting his wife, but the slap wouldn’t have happened if Rock had known the facts and kept his mouth shut.
What The Optics Look Like
From what I’ve seen, the optics of the situation aren’t good for anyone. Will has apologised for his part, and Chris isn’t going to press charges. However, where was Chris’ apology to Jada for being horrible? Will could spend time in prison for assaulting him. Also, isn’t the event shrouded in security? Why didn’t someone step in and prevent it?
Also, didn’t someone check Chris’ jokes before the show started? I read in Entertainment Weekly that Chris’ gag about Jada wasn’t planned. It was also reported that there was a small discussion as to whether Will was going to be removed prior to him winning Best Actor. However, the pacing of the show prevented it from happening.
Chris and Will’s reps were contacted by Entertainment Weekly and they didn’t respond. There’s more information that came out where it’s said that Will forgave Chris. However, this hasn’t been verified.
People Magazine is reporting that the Academy has condemned Will’s assault on Chris and will be looking into the situation. However, it has also been stressed it is unlikely they’ll strip him of his Oscar. This is a common practice. Harvey Weinstein and Roman Polanski didn’t give their awards back.
People on social media have said that Chris treats black women poorly. It wouldn’t surprise me if that were true, as he cheated on his ex-wife during their marriage. He also admitted to having an addiction to porn.
Will and Jada’s marriage faced a crisis some time ago when a guy came forward admitting that he had slept with Jada and that Will was approving of it. However, Will and Jada did a sit-down and admitted that Jada did have an affair, but Will didn’t approve of it.
The Whole Slap Situation Could’ve Been Avoided
It shouldn’t matter if Chris never intended to joke about Jada. It was wrong! Period. Full Stop. He should be apologised to Will AND Jada for joking about it when he saw Jada’s expression or found out about her medical condition.
Moreover, it is not about whether it was staged (again, it wasn’t) or who was at fault. Chris took it too far, and while Will was trying to protect his wife, he shouldn’t have jumped up on the stage to slap him. It is as simple as that.
If anything, I believe that Will should have sat there and waited until the commercial break to talk with him in a civilised fashion. In conclusion, it should not have been broadcast for the entire world to see.
