Will Smith’s attack on presenter Chris Rock has taken headline news at the Oscars this year, with the shock slap for commenting on his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s buzz cut being all anyone can talk about.
The glitz and glamour of Hollywood’s most treasured awards ceremony (who won what by the way?!) spiralled downhill when actor Will Smith stormed the stage to retaliate against Rock’s alleged ‘joke’ about his wife Jada’s alopecia.
Rock asked if Jada, who has a shaved head, “can’t wait to star in GI Jane 2” – in a joke that majorly backfired. Smith, 53, sitting near the front of the stage, noticeably lost his temper (as he saw Jada grimace and roll her eyes) and went up to presenter Rock and slapped him VERY hard around the face – to the surprise of all the onlooking guests.
Rock was heard to have said: “Uh-oh” as Smith approached and after the almighty slap said, “Wow, wow, Will Smith just smacked the s*** out of me.”
As Smith sat down, he said angrily to Rock: “Keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth.”
Rock insisted he was making a joke, although Smith repeated his sentiments again, raising his voice, to which Rock replied, “I’m going to. Okay.”
Bradley Cooper was later seen calming Smith down as did Denzil Washington, and the show (as it does in LA) went on.
Forty minutes later, Smith went on to win the Best Actor award for his role in ‘King Richard.’ He came on stage and accepted the award tearfully responding to his outburst saying: “I want to apologise to the Academy, I want to apologise to my fellow nominees.”
There was noticeably, no apology to Chris Rock during the speech.
Smith thanked his mother and made a mention to “love makes you do crazy things” but not relating to the ‘incident’ – probably the most shocking event ever to happen in the Academy Awards 94-year history.
Smith was later seen enjoying his evening with his family at the Vanity Fair After Party seemingly without a care in world. Although, every single press article on Monday was slamming him. Many saying he should have his Oscar revoked.
The Academy has officially responded with a comment that “It does not condone violence,” but no mention of any Oscar revoke for Smith.
Chris Rock has been questioned by the LAPD to see if he wants to press charges – which he doesn’t.
There has been a long-running feud between the two actor/comedians according to reports. A swipe at Smith’s wifes medical condition may have been a low dig on Oscar’s night but Rock is a comedian and was appointed to generate laughs from the crowd. On the other hand, Smith was defending his wife’s honour and a low joke aimed at alopecia sufferers is not a good thing to do especially given the ‘Woke Generation’ we live in.
However, is violence the answer? A well thought out, comedic comeback by ‘Fresh Prince’ actor Smith would have been so much more effective and a lot less damaging to his career.
Smith has defended his outburst by saying he is seeking therapy for his troubled childhood. His defence of his wife apparently stems from not standing up to his father as a child. In his memoirs, published last year, Smith states standing by and doing nothing as his alcoholic father beat up his mother and that it has haunted him for most of his life.
“When I was nine years old, I watched my father punch my mother in the side of the head so hard that she collapsed. I saw her spit blood. Within everything that I have done since then – the awards and accolades, the spotlights and the attention, the characters and the laughs – there has been a subtle string of apologies to my mother for my inaction that day,” Smith revealed saying he felt like a coward.
It remains to be seen what will happen in this ongoing Oscars saga. But for now – with Smith delivering a public apology to Rock at the time of going to press – hopefully the 2022 Oscar furore will be old news soon. Smith certainly hopes so.
