Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars provoked intense opinions online, especially from comedians who felt it was an assault on their art.
鈥淟et me tell you something, it鈥檚 a very bad practice to walk up on stage and physically assault a comedian,鈥� Kathy Griffin wrote on Twitter. 鈥淣ow we all have to worry about who wants to be the next Will Smith in comedy clubs and theaters.鈥�
The violent exchange began when Rock took verbal aim at Jada Pinkett Smith鈥檚 shaved head, saying, 鈥淛ada, I love you. 鈥楪.I. Jane 2,鈥� can鈥檛 wait to see it, all right?鈥� Rock鈥檚 reference was made from the 1997 film 鈥淕.I. Jane,鈥� starring Demi Moore, who shaved her head to portray a fictional Navy Seal candidate.
Will Smith, her husband, walked onto the stage and took a swing at Rock with an open palm, generating a loud smack. Smith walked back to his seat and shouted for Rock to leave Pinkett Smith alone. Rock replied that he was just making a 鈥淕.I. Jane鈥� joke 鈥� and Smith yelled back at him a second time.
Smith shouted at Rock to 鈥渒eep my wife鈥檚 name out of your (expletive) mouth,鈥� and the crowd hushed as it became clear this was no act. Smith later won the best actor Oscar; Rock chose not to file a police report.
鈥淲ill Smith owes Chris Rock a huge apology. There is no excuse for what he did. He鈥檚 lucky Chris is not filing assault charges,鈥� producer, director and actor Rob Reiner commented on Twitter.
George Takei said Smith鈥檚 losing his cool was a bad look when so many people were watching: 鈥淢any people, especially kids, look up to actors. Because of that, we have an obligation to try to be good role models. With celebrity comes responsibility.鈥�
Pinkett Smith revealed in 2018 that she was diagnosed with alopecia. She has often discussed the challenges of hair loss on Instagram and other social media platforms.
Some commentators noted that alopecia is a painful experience that many Black women go through and should not be joked about. Rock himself helped create the documentary 鈥淕ood Hair,鈥� exploring African American women and their relationship to their hair.
Nicki Minaj put herself in Pinkett Smith鈥檚 shoes. 鈥淚magine what it must feel like to be losing your hair to the point where you have to shave it bald. You think that鈥檚 easy to deal with for anyone? You don鈥檛 think she鈥檚 cried about that many times?鈥� she wrote on Twitter.
Many in the auditorium came to console Smith, including Daniel Kaluuya, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban. In the hours later the hashtags #ProtectBlackWomen trended.
However unfunny Rock鈥檚 joke was, it paled in comparison to some awards show digs in years past, including from acerbic Ricky Gervais, who has skewered the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Judi Dench and Felicity Huffman.
Judd Apatow was highly critical of Smith in a now-deleted Twitter post, describing the attack 鈥渙ut of control rage and violence.鈥� He noted that celebrities have been the target of jokes for decades: 鈥淭hey鈥檝e heard a million jokes about them in the last three decades. They are not freshman in the world of Hollywood and comedy. He lost his mind.鈥�
Richard Marx said no poor joke justified the response: 鈥淚 guess millions of people can鈥檛 comprehend that no level of fame or accolades gives license to commit battery over a verbal joke.鈥�
And Mark Hamill called the incident the ugliest Oscar moment ever, tweeting 鈥淪tand-up comics are very adept at handling hecklers. Violent physical assault鈥� not so much.鈥�
Janai Nelson, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, wrote: 鈥淚 know we鈥檙e all still processing, but the way casual violence was normalized tonight by a collective national audience will have consequences that we can鈥檛 even fathom in the moment.鈥�
But former late-night talk show host Conan O鈥橞rien was among those making light of the situation, writing on Twitter: 鈥淛ust saw the Will Smith slap. Anyone have a late night show I can borrow just for tomorrow?鈥�
鈥擬ark Kennedy, The Associated Press
