The Oscars
Last night's Oscars was in all likelihood the most multiculturally diverse in the 94 year history of the event. The production team for the television show is described as "all black". The deejay was black, the orchestra leader appeared to be black, two of the three hosts were black many of the presenters were black , hispanic or asian, as were a number of the winners , and the film of the night (Best Picture) was a story about a family dealing with deaf parents. It even had Beyonce performing the opening musical number.
And then about 2/3 of the way through the show something happened that has probably damaged all that good vibery. Superstar actor Will Smith took offense at a joke comedian Chris Rock made about his wife and after initially appearing to laugh it off walked the 50 feet or so up to the podium and slapped Rock across the face. Making it worse, Smith sat back down and yelled to Rock "keep my wifes name out you fucking mouth" . When Rock said it was just a joke, Smith repeated "keep my wifes name out you fucking mouth".
A while later Will Smith won the award for Best Actor, and in his acceptance speech started crying saying that he was being called on to "protect my family" and then apologizing to the Academy.
Unfortunately, I know the reaction that part of America had, and we all know which part. These people are animals, the judgement will have gone. This is what happens when you put blacks in charge of anything, etc.
What Will Smith most likely thought of as great progress at the start of the evening, the celebration of a successful black family, the Williams family (Serena and Venus and their parents , the subjects of Smith's Oscar winning performance) fell apart when Smith decided to let his ego get the best of him.
Otherwise the Oscars followed a predictable pattern of hosts comic observations , heartfelt acceptance speeches, mediocre songs nominated in that category, and film clip tributes to famous movies of yesteryear. Although the producers promised some sort of groundbreaking new direction for the Oscars show, this was pretty much what has been seen in the past.
One more thing I didnt like, Wanda Sykes had a segment where she visited the Academy Awards museum which is in Los Angeles somewhere , and instead of talking at all about the displays there and their meaning, she used the tour of the building to make a constant string of racial references. Dont do that please, its the Academy Awards, , talk about the movies.
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My other gripe was Jessica Chastain winning Best Actress. I saw the movie The Eyes Of Tammy Faye and her perfomance wasnt great acting, it was a cartoonish caricature. Nicole Kidman was far better as Lucille Ball in Being The Ricardos.
Wow, that's news. I watched that movie as well and throughout the movie "Oscar-winning performance" never crossed my mind. But doesn't that happen most of the time, person wins the award for a performance that was really "eh" but is snubbed for a "wow, now that's a great performance"?
I didn't watch the Oscars either; only learned about the "Everybody Hates Chris" moment from Eric Boling show yesterday during normal "flipping-the-channel"...
I didn't watch the Oscars last night. Did I miss anything? / S
I didn't see it either but I understand some guy slapped another guy in hopes more people will tune in next year. I guess that is better than actually nominating and voting on pictures based on quality and actors out of touch with reality spending their speeches virtue signaling.
Ricky Gervais had it right.
Jaded Down the Center and uncalled for.
Since I missed it I am dying to know, did Sean Penn melt down his oscar on the show?
Don't know. I did not watch the Oscar airing last night. I was told about it and followed up on the 'happening.'
Interesting. While I agree actors are fair game for any insults thrown at them spouses and children should be left alone, especially making comments about health issues they may have. While I don't condone violence I am not willing to condemn Will for what he did if he did do it because of what was said.
I appreciate your additional perspective and will consider it as food for thought.
I am "all over the place" on this one. Now, should Chris Rock pursue an assault charge, maybe or maybe not (an apology may do) I watch this space.
IMO they should just go out and have a drink (without photographers), Will should apologize, Chris should accept. Chris should apologize for crossing Will's line, Will should accept. And that should be the end of it.
And then Will should explain why his initial reaction was to laugh on camera at Chris’s dumb joke. Jada has him trained like an attack dog.
It is said, the so-called "joke" sunk in and it was not funny. Sometimes comedians can go to far. Calling people out in public is a risky way to make a living! (Still, Rock was assaulted by Smith, publicly and the 'whole world' and may be astronauts in space saw it happen!) (Smile.)
It was funny until Jada dictated to him it wasn’t funny with a glance and a glare. Maybe she should have been the one to slap both of them.
There is something about this that I think is under discussed. Jada Pinkett Smith is fine with having a buzz cut / bald head in public. If she wasnt she would wear wigs and no one would hold it against her.
Given that she is fine with it, it would be odd that she and Will would object to some basically innocent teasing about it.
Jada did roll her eyes but I dont think she wanted her husband to make a fool of himself on international television by going up to the stage and attacking Rock.
I agree that she couldn’t possibly have wished for that outcome. I think it all stems from the 2016 Oscars incident with Chris Rock, which was more embarrassing for her, imo anyways.
To make matters worse, their spoiled rotten freak kids attended the after party with them.
“ From a platform above, Jaden pointed at his father and shouted: “I love you! You did it! That’s what real [N-words] do!”
Real classy.
Geez.
Yeah. It's messy ain't it? Being in relationships, I mean. (Sometimes things are 'fluid' and what can you do)?
Exactly. Now if Jada was suffering hair loss due to Cancer, some debilitating disease and he made that comment, slap on after the fact, back stage, parking lot it. But alopecia? Really?
And her reaction is typical Jada, she NEVER bursts out laughing when a joke is told on her. But when it's Will or someone else, all teeth and open mouth. And HE laughed at first...
Dude, go slap the guys she had "open marital relations" with. It's like, you're not Rick James and he's not Charlie Murphy. But cocaine is still a helluva drug.
Everybody, including Fresh Prince, Hate Chris I guess.
Yeah John you are right. Sometimes you just don't see the 'thing' coming or you anticipate it but don't know the form it will take. "GI Jane 2" Damn, Rock good one. But, ouch! And then (slap): OUCH!
I love Jaden's spirit and zest for life (the little bit of his film work I have seen). But not this! I don't know what this he is going on about is.
Okay, now we move beneath the pail? Comedian makes wrong joke, gets assaulted, and social media moralizes about her personal rights as a citizen to do what makes her happy? I don't accept that. Let's stay out of the bedroom sheets!
Alopecia is a disease. And it can be crippling to an individual. To a career. Especially, when your looks are partially what sells you in a (photogenic) shot or the role of a lifetime calls for proper 'strands' atop the head.
To me, watching award shows are like watching NASCAR.
I can watch a 3-5 hour long race, or just watch 2 minutes of Sportscenter and see who won, any dramatic lead changes in the final laps, and any big wrecks. I can watch the news and see who won Best Actor/Actress/ Best Picture, etc., without all the long boring speeches.
I still cannot believe a top Disney executive said publicly that she has rejected brilliant scripts because they were written by white men.
Billie Eilish, the human licorice pizza
Would you eat that "pizza"?
As Bill Cosby once said, people will eat anything as long as there is ketchup available.
The notion that a very well know actor could attend an Oscars ceremony, get up and violently slap the presenter in the face, curse twice on a live broadcast causing the delay button to be activated multiple times, then win an award minutes later reminds me of another statement some other total asshole made regarding something about Fifth Avenue.
Typical leftist BS. Equating actually doing it, with saying it.
Smith got away with it. Still walking free; award in hand. Think Trump could really stand on Fifth Ave and mow people down with a gun and get away with it? [deleted]
What did you want, for him to be dragged away in handcuffs? It was a big embarrassment for Smith and the Oscars, but it wasnt a crime scene. Chris Rock graciously declined to press charges.
They could have removed him from the building. That’s usually the least of the consequences when you assault someone.
Always the apologist for bad behavior by blacks.
Slapping and murdering are two different things. When I said I said it “reminds me”, I was referring to the pathetic sense of entitlement.
He should have been ejected from the theater. They should have asked him to leave and escorted him out, as would have happened at any venue with this type of altercation.
I think the PTB involved just wanted it all to die down. If Smith had been forced from the building that would have been its own news as the stage remained empty when Best Actor was announced.
Greg, I WROTE the seeded article.
Assault is a crime.
He and his kids certainly appear to have that sense of entitlement.
IMO Smith should lose his award for the bs he pulled.
What's up with Will Smith ? I wonder if there isn't some back story to all that because even though the joke wasn't great it sure didn't deserve that kind of reaction. Chris kept it together and that made Will look even more like an ass. Watch out for Will Smith he will sucker punch you when you least expect it. I think everyone including Chris thought Will was going to do something funny not get all Gangster at the Oscars.
I don't watch movies anymore, so I haven't watched this political shitshow for years. These awards shows have become too obsessed with race and gender and diversity of all sorts to be entertaining or relevant.
Smith should have been arrested for assault.
You are probably not the proper judge of that. I dont have a problem with all the "diversity'' now, although it should not be getting such attention 5 or 10 years from now. Hopefully we will have moved past race a little by then.
The movie business began at roughly the turn of the 20th century. For the first 60 or 70 of those years people of color either couldnt get work in movies (almost all non white characters other than Negroes were portrayed by whites ) or they were caricatures of shiftless , stupid, slaves or maids, or in the case of American Indians, savages with bizarre customs. This went on for decade after decade. I dont begrudge POC a place in the sun now that things have gotten a little better for them in the movie industry.
You definitely aren't either.
Diversity is fine. Diversity being used as an artificial crux is not. As for moving past it; the left never will so long as can be used as a tool to separate and disparage. Excluding whites is not a show of diversity; it is a show of ignorance and stupidity. If no one is supposed to care about skin pigmentation; then no one should care about a lack of it.
60 or 70 years ago most of us weren't even alive. Things have only gotten "a little better for them"? Where the hell have you been. The Rock, Will Smith, and Denzel Washington aren't some of the biggest male stars on the planet pulling down top dollar for roles?
.
Want me to post highest paid athletes in each sport? How about singers? Models? Think all of those won't be a diversity eye chart?
The world has change; unfortunately many on the left haven't with it.
So, would you watch The Academy Awards if it was all white (men)?
By the way, the movie Dune was arguably the big winner last night, taking home six Oscars, normally a pretty impressive total. But on the tv show Dune appeared to be no more than an afterthought, as almost all of its awards were presented prior to the start of the telecast , as they were "technical" awards like sound and editing.
I think Dune was shortchanged some acclaim.
I do too.
Dune shortchanged us half a movie. I'll reserve judgement for when I can watch it in its entirety. Sometime in the distant future.
I just saw Dune and I thought it reeked.
If Comedy Central ever "roasts" Will Smith, Chris Rock should appear wearing a football helmet.
Good one.
That would be hilarious.
Hey! It's fair game now! Chris Rock has a 'right' to make a routine around 'The Slap Heard Around The World'! Touring. Yeah, that's the ticket!
Yo Sister! I'm buying tickets! Get ready. Get ready. Get ready!
Be prepared to pay a big price. Forty dollar tickets are now at least 400 due to this.
Yikes! Scalpers! (I am just kidding around with my Sister MAAB!)
I would like him to attend a party and when he walks into the room, every guest would be wearing a helmet.
Extremely disappointed in Will Smith. I don’t fault him for wanting to defend his wife. But this was a joke - from a comic who literally has the job of making jokes about people in the audience. Comics have been doing that at the Oscars for decades. And “defending your wife” doesn’t require a physical assault on a comic.
The bigger the star you are, the more you should expect to have the jokes be about you. Being cracked on at the Oscars is a status symbol. It’s a small price to pay for the insane level of fame and fortune that the Smiths enjoy. How is it that after over 30 years in show business Will still has not learned this?
It’s not as if Jada isn’t also famous. It’s not like she’s the wife no one knows.
Will was out of line. He should have been escorted from the theater. Instead he was cheered a few minutes later. Typical Hollywood. The more power you have, the more your bad behavior doesn’t matter.
And with the lack of support, if I were Chris Rock, I would tell the Academy to go fuck themselves the next time they come calling. I would also start writing a string of Will Smith jokes to use for the next several years.
I agree with everything you say here except that he should have been escorted from the theater. That would have just escalated things.
Why ? What was Will going to do wait around till after the show to beat up Chris some more ? Everyone is responsible for their own behavior and there are consequences for bad or violent actions and the repercussions should be the same for the biggest star or biggest nobody. If I were Chris Rock I'd be pissed they did nothing and even went as far as to still give him his award and let him speak on stage (they should have mailed it to him). Chris should sue the Oscars and say he has PTSD and can't perform on stage because he fears being attacked by members of the audience, lost wages estimated in the hundreds of millions. I could understand letting it go if Smith had been ejected but instead they gave Chris Rock the equivalent of another slap in the face by showing they value Smiths participation more than Chris's wellbeing.
You don’t think Will had already escalated things enough? How many people does he get to slap before anyone cares? 2? 10? Unlimited like my data plan?
Would it be ok if he went home and slapped Jada? Not a lot, you understand, but just one time. And then she should not fight back or call the police because that would just escalate things.
I’m sorry, I just think that that is a weird take. Will Smith was a bully last night and everyone is just going to let him get away with it. I think that’s indefensible.
Imagine how Chris Rock felt hanging around backstage as Will Smith was allowed to stay and receive his award and make his speech. How about later since I'm sure Chris Rock had a full night planned with all those after parties, I doubt he felt much like partying.
Between the two of them, Chris Rock was the much bigger man, last night.
It should give Chris Rock pause to put "unvetted" jokes out there about a peer's wife! Chris Rock, I'm told, is notorious for doing something like this: @ 2 :30 observe,
Chris Rock's Opening Monologue
Maybe he was happy that Alec Baldwin wasn't in attendance.
Jada is a peer not "a peer's wife" ! So what exactly are the prerequisites for being allowed to sucker slap someone without having to deal with all those annoying repercussions.
I'm sure everyone was.
How about Jada is a both a peer and a peer's wife? What exactly is there to oppose here?
She's not just will's wife she's an actress and a celebrity in her own right and that makes her fair game. I like Jada and Will, but Will acted like a jackass last night and he assaulted Chris and you defend him like Chris deserved it. The fact is what Will did was a crime and he's lucky the police haven't arrested him since they don't need Chris to file charges the assault was public and is on film.
I'm curious what that has to do with Will Smith bitch slapping Chris Rock?
I wrote this
Jada was at the award's show as wife supporting her husband, and if you are married (I am not!) that should mean something (to you). As you can read Zuksam above, I am not completely formed in my opinion of this incident. It was an incident of rich black men 'behaving' badly all the way around, nevertheless! (Smile.)
Will Smith since 2016 may have had an 'ought' against 'Rock' for his prior commentary and here he, Rock, was in this setting (with both Smith's present) 'putting his mouth on Will's wife yet again in the worst possible emotional way.
It was bad. Rock can pursue any course of action available to him and I will likely applaud it. Why? Because this was a bad look all the way 'round'! "360 around."
At least no one was shot.
I just came to a realization: I was in shock over this video recorded (Youtube'd) incident.
About 3 PM PST Monday, I slowly remembered something that escaped me after seeing these two very rich and influential men misbehaving against each other:
My consistent 'refrain' or worldview is this: People should keep their hands to themselves. That is, where Mr. Rock's face begin is where Mr. Smith's right to an uninvited placing of his hand begins!
Mr. Smith had in his right to do one of several actions:
Smith chose a fifth option: Deepen the offense by an unauthorized visit to the stage and an a non-verbal assault against the person of Rock.
Sorry, it took me so long to process this clearly. Evidently, I was more affected by this than I initially knew.
Peace!
NOTE: Finally this: It may be that both men and Jada Pinkett have 'jumped the shark' in Hollywood with this.
That’s true, but Jada is a major Hollywood player in her own right. Glancing at her IMDB page, she has 51 acting credits, 24 producer credits, 7 writing credits, and 6 directing credits. Both she and Will might well have been at the Oscars even if neither one of them had been nominated.
DEPARTMENT OF OOPS!
I would have loved to see him as a presenter....in his Trump persona from SNL.
He does this, hits someone, yells and screams then wins an award.
I don't even know what movie or what he won for.
I don't watch the phony shit. It is basically Hollywood patting themselves on the back.
In a normal world his career would be over.
The award predated the slap. They cant refuse him the award, that would make the whole thing even more ridiculous.
Ender, the award was voted on by the Academy. It is not a spur of the moment activity. There are even 'steps' of sorts (I hear) to deciding whom to give "Oscar." It was for a movie named:
KING RICHARD – Official Trailer
Voted on by the academy. Like I said, them voting for themselves and patting themselves on the back.
Never heard of the movie. I don't even think I saw a trailer for it.
(AMAZON) Prime Video (streaming service - category). It's "up and coming" industry productions.
They could have given him the award and not had any speech from him.
In what other world would anyone get away with this kind of thing?
I hope from here on out the Oscars bomb.
The so called golden age of cinema has come and gone.
That will be a pass for me.
Your right to ignore.
But really, this was a bad scene, and distinct and separate from the quality of the work put into the movie - as it won an Oscar! 
On a positive note, Will Smith "Got 'em!"
Just can't stand Smith. Can't stand Tom Cruise either.
The both get on my nerves and I can't stand watching either one in anything.
I dont think I'd care much for Tom Cruise the real person, but I do like his Mission Impossible movies. The last couple have been fantastic, better than James Bond.
Never seen any of them.
Well, if you dont like movies you dont like movies, what can I tell ya?
I don't tend to watch certain 'select' genres of movies usually involving major stars who are 'over the top' and requiring 'suspension of disbelief' in their stunts. (I don't watch martial arts movies with 'absurd' action scenes where people walk on tossed in the air stones or 'fly'). But, I do enjoy an occasional Will Smith, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon movie when I can sit still long enough to ingest it. ("Good stuff.")
Of course they can! It’s not like Will Smith owns his award. The Academy does.
There’s nothing at all wrong with the Academy saying “you acted well and we were going to honor that performance, but since you decided to be a violent douchebag at our ceremony, you can get out and we’ll give the award to a civilized person.”
You think they could have decided that in a half an hour? LOL.
They should have just given the Oscar for best actor to Chris Rock for acting like a Gentleman when he easily could have said some shit and I'm sure he wanted to.
Morning Ender..I am with you.. Can't stand Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson or Nicole Kidman..
If a movie comes on tv and they are in it...I know it's time to brush the cat...may explain why it is starting to look a bit bald...here kitty kitty....
A gentleman??? Don't care who you are or what you're doing - you don't talk 'bout my family in public without discussing with the family first. You do and you'll receive the five knuckles that Chris should've gotten.
Rude, unprofessional - but, hey, he's a comedian and gets fair leeway to being an azz from his fellow "comedians".
Wonder what would've happened if he'd mentioned Alec Baldwin's wife???
I don't live by Ghetto Law and neither does Chris Rock.
That will be a pass for me.
Haven't watched any awards show whether TV, movie or music since the 70s.
Disco kind of ruined my faith in my fellow folk.
All of a sudden, bands had nowhere to play nor musicians to develop.
The Williams family must have been mortified at Smith turning their moment of glory into this.
I think I heard they were cheering for him.
I have not read about it from the Williams' family perspective. However, such matters, dynamics, usually have background between such high-ranking people. That is, informed histories about warnings, cautions, "disturbances," that fly pass public exposure and consumption.
Before or after the slap?
I just returned from a trip to LA last week. We had tickets to Jimmy Kimmel, my wife had tickets to Kelly Clarkson. Saw how the shows are made, saw a lot of random influencers glorifying themselves on the streets, fake breasts, clearly botoxed lips, etc.. It’s the fakest, most plastic place in this country. Nothing is what it seems there, and they endlessly boast about that.
He was asked to leave but refused. That is when security should have removed him physically.
Yeah, I wonder who asked him. Apparently nobody he thought he needed to listen to.
I don't know what they're going to do with him, but it can't be too extreme considering people like Roman Polanski and Harvey Weinstein get to keep their Oscars. And they even nominated Polanski after they knew what he had done.
Weinstein got an oscar? What for...best groping by an executive?
When a movie wins Best Picture, the producers get the award. I think that rapist has a couple.
Will Smith is what the late great Don Rickles would refer to as a hockey puck.
Anybody who is critical about what Chris Rock said in that Joke needs to watch a couple Don Rickles shows because Rickles would have been so much worse and even if he knew about her medical condition he would have made jokes about that. Don Rickles charm was he kept it moving, you'd be laughing at the last guy he insulted while he was insulting you and before you could get offended, he was already making fun of someone else.
I saw Rickles in Vegas. He insulted everyone in the audience...no one got a pass. The audience was in stitches, of course that was at a time when we could laugh at ourselves
That was the good old days before we raised a bunch of fools insistent that they never see or hear anything that could possibly offend them and get a trophy for participating in life.
Yep and the PC police started showing up. They can't stand anyone having some fun. Will Smith's slap pretty much summed up the control that liberals have been forcefully cultivating for years to shut up and sit down or this is what you get...
Rickles developed his caustic wit during a show where he was bombing and a heckler let him have it. Something in Rickles snapped and he fired back with both barrels. The audience loved it and from that day on, the Don Rickles we came to know and love was born.
Never cared for Smith. I always read he would not take a part in a movie unless he had a starring roll. He seems very narcissistic.
Imo all of his acting is the same. He is him, the same, just in a different role. Very one dimensional.
His family is weird as hell too.
He should be banned from any future Oscar appearances.
If not, let everyone hit everybody.
His weird son tweeted..."This is what we do." Nice parenting Will.
Supporting your parent isn't good parenting?
I don't condom violence. I am disturbed by this display of assault. There is a disconnect here, though. (This is not a defense of Will Smith.) Chris Rock humiliated Jada Pinkett Smith with his "GI Jane" joke (Jada has alopecia (hair loss) since 2018. Where she announced the existence of the disease in herself. This is 2022! Why did Chris Rock feel it appropriate to call her out as she sat beside her husband on such a big, grand, platform?!
I am bothered by this, of course. Why? Because people of color ASK to be a major 'ingredient' in these settings; have achieved it through a great amount of 'push' and work; and, through hook or crook, justifiably or unjustifiably, a "ghetto moment" appears.
We will survive this. It will be a set-back—hopefully a mild one-heads will 'roll' and a new policy for what presenters can say will be distilled.
I do not know what a man should do in such a situation where his wife is 'dissed' on the world stage and before his very eyes. Take it back stage? Sure. That could have worked best!
Still, there is this 'pesky' problem of what was done so publicly, was dealt with equally in public.
The problem I have with your analysis is that , as others have said, celebrities in the audience are regularly, as in always, teased at these shows. Chris Rock's joke about Will Smith's wife's lack of hair qualifies as a teasing, not a personal attack.
This sort of teasing of people at the Oscars , or Emmys, or Grammys, goes back many decades. Will Smith should have just laughed and took it for what it was.
I can accept that. (But, with reservation - as I am a 'never' married man. I don't know the 'tinsel strength' in a thirty year marital relationship.
)
One last thing: I would think that Will Smith took 'a great many things' into account before he approached the stage and assaulted a fellow entertainer on this of all nights!
I understand what you mean. This 'problem of dissing' should have been handled in a gentlemanly fashion.
This reminds me of the Boondocks animated series episode, I believe it was the first Mr. Stinkmeaner one, where the theme was "A 'N' moment".
That was Will Smith, having one of many "N moments"
He did something similar to Tommy Davidson years ago during filming of the movie Woo . Didn't come to slapping, fighting because Jada jumped between them but still...
Oscars turning into the Source Hip Hop Awards...
Yeah. I have to laugh to keep from crying. Adult Swim "The Boondocks" - somewhere in my 'contract' I am required to laugh at the circumstances of life! Good sport!
Remember when this started a "feud"?
I'm glad Oprah didn't slap the shit out of Letterman.
Oprah gets snark, Uma gets snark, everyone gets snark from the "snarky putz".
? That was all in good fun. (No personality was 'harmed' in the telling of these vids.)
I heard Jesse Smollett is saying Will Smith hit him too.
Yes, black men can 'behave' badly, too! And, homosexual men can 'behave' badly too! And, women can 'behave' badly, too! Oh, and conservatives and liberals can be 'behave' badly, also! Journalists can 'behave' badly, indeed!
[deleted]
Taunting my ass. It was a simple question.
What? No sarcasm tag?
if I have to add it for you to understand the problem isn't with me...
Well Jeremy, why waste time defending the indefensible? Bigger.
Apparently Will still hadn’t gotten over Chris Rock’s last interaction with his wife from 2016, over her publicly declaring she’s boycotting the Oscars because of a lack of diversity:
“Jada said she’s not coming. I was like, ‘Isn’t she on a TV show?’ Jada’s gonna boycott the Oscars?” began Rock, then the emcee. “Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna’s panties. I wasn’t invited!”
That’s a funny line. No excuse whatsoever for what Will Smith did last night.
Lack of diversity my patoot. It was because Will did not get nominated for his film Concussion.
www.nytimes.com /2022/03/28/movies/oscars-will-smith-slap-reactions.html
Academy Condemns Will Smith for Slap at Oscars and Opens Inquiry
Nicole Sperling, Matt Stevens, Julia Jacobs 10-12 minutes 3/28/2022
The day after Smith won best actor, the film organization criticized him for hitting the comedian Chris Rock, who had told a joke about his wife.
Video
March 28, 2022 Updated 4:31 p.m. ET
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LOS ANGELES — As questions swirled about why the actor Will Smith had faced no repercussions for slapping the comedian Chris Rock during Sunday night’s Oscars telecast, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which administers the awards, on Monday denounced his actions and said it was starting an inquiry.
“The academy condemns the actions of Mr. Smith at last night’s show,” the organization said in a statement. “We have officially started a formal review around the incident and will explore further action and consequences in accordance with our bylaws, standards of conduct and California law.”
The statement came after a meeting Monday. A five-page document on standards of conduct that accompanied the statement spells out behavior the organization deems unacceptable. It prohibits “physical contact that is uninvited and, in the situation, inappropriate and unwelcome, or coercive sexual attention.” Also not allowed is “intimidation, stalking, abusive or threatening behavior, or bullying.”
Disciplinary action, according to the bylaws, could include “suspension of membership or expulsion from membership.”
The incident unfolded Sunday night after Mr. Rock made a joke about the buzzed hair of Mr. Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, who has alopecia, a condition that leads to hair loss. Mr. Smith responded by walking onto the stage of the Dolby Theater and slapping Mr. Rock, leaving stunned viewers wondering at first if the blow might have been scripted until Mr. Smith returned to his seat and warned him to stop talking about his wife, using expletives.
Behind the scenes at the Oscars, there were serious discussions about removing Mr. Smith from the theater, according to two industry officials with knowledge of the situation who were granted anonymity to describe internal deliberations. But time was short, because the best actor award, which Mr. Smith was heavily favored to win, was fast approaching, one noted — and stakeholders had varying opinions on how to proceed. There was also concern about further disrupting the live broadcast, the other said.
As the show went on, the actor Denzel Washington spoke with Mr. Smith during a commercial break. Not long after that Mr. Smith won best actor. (Mr. Smith said in his speech that Mr. Washington had told him: “At your highest moment, be careful. That’s when the devil comes for you.”) In his onstage remarks, Mr. Smith apologized to the academy and to his fellow nominees — but not to Mr. Rock — and defiantly sought to draw parallels to the character he played in “King Richard,” the father of Venus and Serena Williams.
“Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family,” Mr. Smith said.
He received a standing ovation.
The incident overshadowed the awards. On ABC’s “Good Morning America,” on Monday George Stephanopoulos described it as “something we have never seen before, something that is very hard to process: Will Smith, walking up onto that stage after Chris Rock told a joke about his wife — simply assaulting Chris Rock.”
The powers-that-be at the Oscars had been intent on not repeating last year’s record-low ratings, putting a series of changes in place they had hoped would draw more viewers : installing three comic actresses as hosts, pretaping some awards to try to quicken the pace, introducing a fan-favorite award that viewers could vote on. But the broadcast became must-see television for a reason they did not anticipate.
“Welp … I said it wouldn’t be boring #Oscars ,” Will Packer, one of the show’s producers, tweeted after the show. He later added : “This was a very painful moment for me. On many levels.”
The telecast drew a larger audience than last year’s, but interest remained depressed compared with past years. The awards show attracted 15.4 million viewers on ABC, a 56 percent improvement on the 9.6 million people who watched the 2021 event , according to ABC. Sunday night’s show was still the second least-watched Oscars ever.
Comedians, who tell uncomfortable and sometimes offensive jokes for a living, raised concerns about the precedent Smith had set.
“Let me tell you something, it’s a very bad practice to walk up onstage and physically assault a comedian,” Kathy Griffin tweeted . “Now we all have to worry about who wants to be the next Will Smith in comedy clubs and theaters.”
Jimmy Kimmel, the comedian and talk show host who had been the last person to host the Oscars, said on “ The Bill Simmons Podcast ” that he felt bad for the show’s hosts; for Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, who won the best documentary feature award Mr. Rock had been presenting, and for Mr. Rock, who he said “certainly didn’t deserve that.”
“In a way, I feel bad for Will Smith too, because I think he let his emotions get the better of him, and this should have been one of the great nights of his life,” Mr. Kimmel said. “And now it’s not. Was there anyone who didn’t like Will Smith an hour ago in the world? Like no one, right? Now he doesn’t have a single comedian friend — that’s for sure.”
Whoopi Goldberg, who is on the academy’s board of governors and has hosted the show several times, said on her talk show “The View” on Monday that she did not think Smith’s award would be revoked, citing Mr. Rock’s decision not to press charges.
“We’re not going to take that Oscar from him,” she said. “There will be consequences, I’m sure.”
The Los Angeles Police Department said it was aware of what it described as an incident involving “one individual slapping another” at the Oscars. The police said the person involved had “declined to file a police report.”
“If the involved party desires a police report at a later date,” the police said, they would move forward and “complete an investigative report.”
At least one member of the academy, Marshall Herskovitz, a former president of the Producers Guild of America, called for Mr. Smith to face disciplinary action.
Two industry officials said that Mr. Rock’s joke had apparently been ad-libbed.
And Bruce Vilanch, a past head writer of Oscars shows who did not work on this year's, said: “Everything that is in the script is vetted. But if a comedian comes out onstage and ad-libs something, there’s no time to vet. I’m guessing that’s what happened last night. What I’m hearing from everybody is that this was not the material that was rehearsed.”
Mr. Rock has teased the Smiths from the Oscars stage before. In 2016, when the Smiths boycotted the awards show because the nominees in the four acting categories were all white, Mr. Rock, that show’s host, joked about it. “Jada says she not coming, protesting,” he said. “I’m like, ain’t she on a TV show? Jada is going to boycott the Oscars — Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna’s panties. I wasn’t invited.”
Mr. Smith was not deterred from celebrating his win on Sunday night, dancing at a crowded party after the Oscars while holding his trophy, but he avoided questions about the incident, which he has not publicly addressed since his acceptance speech. Publicists for Mr. Smith and Mr. Rock did not immediately respond to requests for a comment.
Jaden Smith, one of the Smiths’ children, tweeted simply: “And That’s How We Do It.”
The reaction inside and outside Hollywood ranged widely. In interviews following the show, at after-parties and on social media, Smith’s colleagues variously expressed sadness, confusion, disbelief, anger and, in some cases, empathy. Many deflected or ignored questions about the episode entirely.
The actor Mark Hamill called it the ugliest Oscars moment . “Stand-up comics are very adept at handling hecklers,” he wrote on Twitter. “Violent physical assault … not so much. #UgliestOscarMoment_Ever .”
One top studio executive, who declined to speak on the record, voiced disappointment in Smith and in the fact that the audience in the theater gave him a standing ovation.
And Janai Nelson, the president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, worried aloud in a tweet that “the way casual violence was normalized tonight by a collective national audience will have consequences that we can’t even fathom in the moment.”
Others seemed to defend Mr. Smith. “Many takes on here about Will Smith and Chris Rock, especially from people whose partners are not Black women (mainly white people),” the author Frederick Joseph tweeted . “I don’t care if it’s a joke or not, the amount Black women have to endure — people are tired of it. We have no idea what Jada has gone through.”
And the comedian Tiffany Haddish, who starred in the movie “Girls Trip” with Ms. Pinkett Smith, said in an interview with People magazine at an after-party that she appreciated seeing Mr. Smith protect his wife.
“Maybe the world might not like how it went down,” Ms. Haddish said, “but for me, it was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen because it made me believe that there are still men out there that love and care about their women, their wives.”
Even still, the day after, the prevailing reaction was mostly one of disbelief.
“We’re not sure where the fallout will end up,” Ryan Seacrest said Monday on his morning show “Live With Kelly and Ryan.” “It was one of those moments that we couldn’t believe when we saw it.”
Gasp!!! Not an inquiry!!
Now this is one Racist piece of shit !
I wasn't aware of this. She has a medical condition that I am sure she is very sensitive to. It could have cost her jobs (Hollyweird is more than shallow enough for that). Rock should have picked a better target; like Will Smith himself. Pretty sure Smith's reaction wouldn't have been the same.
Not condoning what Will Smith did; but Rock is an unmitigated asshole.
I'm not so sure about that. Movie studios have hundreds of wigs I'm sure they would supply her with to play a role.
Continuing the point y'all are making. . . .
And yes, she is evidently 'owning' the look sitting there and prior on the red carpet. But, this is just one of those 'days' when a 'feather' lands and the whole damn 'world' falls out the bottom!
Mrs. Smith displayed a sour face and probably was at unease with the spotlight appearing yet again on her head of all things, but nothing establishes it as a fact that she wanted her husband to internalize her discomfort (of the moment maybe) and go 'break Rock's face and the Academy's presentation 'down.'
She didn't seem to mind when most of the world watched her, her daughter and mother "steam" themselves on her Podcast, and other things she's done and said, not only on there but also in other public arenas and interviews.
And Will did laugh in the first moments after the joke.
In any event, we agree it was a hella bad moment, very poor on his part and at the after-party his son made it worse.
I believe he should have been escorted out, the award should have been accepted on his behalf and he should have been barred from any after parties / events. Basically he's acceptance speech was he was using the movie, his role to justify what he did - cop out.
What can I say? Day to day life can be 'messy' (and sketchy too)!
…perhaps ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ should preface every ‘celebrity’ comment, any award show acceptance speech, and/or action.
“There's not one wise man among twenty that will praise himself.” ~William Shakespeare
Don't really care either way, I am not an, "Oscar's Watcher", but I will say this, you say something nasty about one of my family members and I am there? All bets are off..
Chris Rock reportedly didn’t know Jada Pinkett Smith has alopecia
And neither did I until my daughter told me.
I never thought for a minute that he did, not that it would have excused what Will did if he had. Hollywood people live in bubbles in which everyone knows everything about them, so they assume everyone in America is following every aspect of their lives on social media. I doubt Chris Rock follows much social media at all and he certainly raised his own family in a much different way than the Smiths.
I cannot speak to what these "booked up" and always "rehearsing" people read or have time to learn. That said, it goes to something I wrote above about properly "vetting" a joke-know your comedic "genius" or face the consequence a joke may not only fail but backfire! And yes, you're right. An assault on Chris Rock occurred a the literal hand of Will Smith. (Smile.)
Chris is a Club Comic and a certain part of his act is always off the cuff, he tends to tell stories and if inspiration comes he says it. That's how he works night after night in the clubs, we only see the end result when he does a big show and it's a TV Special, these are his best jokes crafted in the clubs over a year or more. I'm sure he's had thousands of jokes flop, the consequences he faces when a joke fails is to move on to the next joke and the only backfire he should ever have to face is a person walking out, changing the channel, or not buying a ticket to his next show. Chris can't do his job under the threat of violence and he shouldn't have to. Will Smith's reaction was so over the top it's troubling to hear people justifying and showing admiration for his actions "Defending his Wife", they act like a lame joke is equivalent to a sexual assault.
Zuksam, I have agreed with you in substance and in spirit already publicly. However, assault is not the only issue here. (Albeit, the glaring legal one.) Chris' first obligation is to be in good health approximately to tell a joke.
And Zuksam, I do not thing it is defensible or proper to make a fellow actor's spouse the butt of a joke Especially, when it has little to no redeemable value beyond the obvious guffaw. Specifically, when their spouse is in the immediate vicinity.
And to be clear, a joke that leaves a bad taste behind is off-color.
In that room, with worldwide television cameras, Chris inadvertently made Jada a 'by-product' and I don't know if her husband felt it "suitable" for her fame to be so. Incidentally Chris did a similar thing (by-product) to Rihanna in 2016 with a reference to that entertainer's "panties" without him in them.
Now, that does not mean I agree with letting a comic attack willy-nilly in the spirit of joke-telling. I am aware that there are millions of people the world over who will not sit down front in a comedic show, because they do not wish to be 'terrorized" by the comic on stage. Heavens, I even have a comic who comes to mind who reached women in the back of an audience (by shading his eyes with his hand from the stage lighting) to talk about women with 'huge chests' and how he adores them; pointed them out one by one in the room!
It is an unasked for and uneasy feeling.
Yeah, he was defending his wife LOL but he doesn't care that she has sex whoever she pleases.
Curious. People do defend their significant other when s/he is doing whatsoever she pleases.
It is a condition that women rarely reveal to others, mostly out of shame and embarrassment. A friend of mine suffers from it so I told her....God creates only so many perfect heads. The rest he covers with hair. It is now her credo.
The world is full of snowflakes.
Was anybody at all harmed during the episode? Not really. It wasn't like he punched him or tackled him.
Get the fuck over it. An individual received a slap from another individual who was upset by something they said. That is what happened. All this talk of "Toxic masculinity" and removing him from the theatre and blah blah blah. Get a fucking life and talk about something real and ignore the millionaires who are detached from reality.
Good day, Thomas! Tell us how you really feel! (Smile.)
Harm? Yes, indeed. Rock is going to have to schedule a dentist to recheck his "million-dollar" smile for a defect! Worse, the 'whole world' received a nasty 'jolt,' right through out television screens and video replays, and little children are scared somebody is going to slap the 'taste' out of their mouths in their beds, my friend! /s
I tend to agree with you. I do think the enormity of the occasion (the Academy Awards still are a big deal whether some people want to admit it or not) magnified the offense. If this had happened at someone's house party it would have been a much differently reported story.
I think it was newsworthy at the time, but Im not sure its so newsworthy that it should be big news days later.
Our culture tends to beat relatively minor things in the news to death.
Will Smith (today) has apologized via social media to Chris Rock (and accepted responsibility for the assault).
Well it isn’t exactly a precedent that any live awards ceremony should be setting. I watch a lot of Ridiculousness on MTV and there are a lot of clips of people getting slapped as hard as that and getting knocked the fuck out. Imagine if that would have happened. Chris handled it well - he must have a chin like a Rock.
Precedent? He made an apology to the group that night and to Mr. Rock the next day. No harm, no foul.
Next.
Everyone needs to realize that just because you can do something, you don't necessarily need to. And the flipside of that is just because somebody does something that one dislikes, does not mean that one needs to take offense at the action.
Just grow up and try not to be a dick.
I 'hear' you friend Thomas. You are taking us to the next level and I appreciate this. We're just talking our way through. Have you noticed the interest about this by so many of us (we're 'buzzing'). I think, this impacted us as humans and some of us, including me, have admitted to being in mild shock!
I may have a little PTSD after-effect. /s
Yesterday around 3 PM PST, I realized I was "affected" when I started coming out of the "processing" I had of seeing video of the assault Sunday night.
Thank you for being here, friend. You are helping us get centered once again and I, speaking for myself, appreciate you!
I’m curious what you’d be saying if Will had inadvertently knocked out the emcee of the Oscars.
It was Will Smith who was being the dick;.
Hal A. Lujah made a 'funny' for real.
Sorry friend Thomas . We're all men and women here enough to know well, two or several things can be true at once.
But that didn't happen, now did it?
Everyone has seen what happened and it is over.
To be clear, I am not defending Mr.Smith or his actions. I am saying that there are more important things to be talking about than a personal altercation between two well to do people when there was no actual harm done, with the possible exception of egos and paydays.
Most people don't know the difference between a slap and a palm shot, a slap is done primarily with the finger half of the hand, a palm shot uses primarily the heel of the palm and can be devastating. Will Smith hit Chris Rock with a Palm Shot and it was a sucker punch shot at that, he could have broken Chris's Jaw. The sneak attack is what bothers me most, if you want to fight be a man and announce it. Don't be a coward and sucker punch someone who's not expecting it.
This too shall pass, no animals were harmed, gas is still almost $6.00/gal, and taxes still have to be paid.
So funny. I loved Jaden Smith in the Netflix series: "The GetDown." Good work!
Seems Mr. Rock will be laughing all the way to the bank.
That's proper. It's publicity doing what it potentially can do. A positive 'side-effect' if you will allow it. And, may Mr. Rock spend his accidental gains well. Cheers!
Googled Jada proud of bald head - less than a week before the award show.
and this is from Dec 2021.
Yeah, it may be that the Smiths and Chris Rock have "jumped the shark" in Hollywood. Take their wealth and move on to other things. 2. Jada Pinkett Smith, like a lot of women, may not be able to 'contain' a man who feels threatened, slighted, or dissed publicly (on her behalf). Who knows? The videos I have seen does not convey the 'fullness' of what went on in the room.
One thing is clear, however. For whatever reason, Will Smith felt he had to act and I am pretty sure he took a bunch of scenarios into account once he did act! Including being sued or barred (uninvited) from future Oscars presentations.
It could be that Jada is the one responsible for doing both the controlling and the triggering.
A person, who is an authority on narcissists, could break this down step by step on how Jada has taken a person who believes in monogamy in marriage and made them champion adultery.
The source on the following is Will Smith
Jada was most likely the one who felt threatened, slighted or dissed publicly if she had seen some of the reviews on her evening's fashion choice. She may have even felt slighted by the press reaction when posing on the red carpet. Jada was probably already having a difficult time controlling her narcissistic rage because the evening was to be all about Will instead of Jada.
The pictures of Jada are at pages 7 and 8 at the link below.
Well, what I, we, do know is Will reacted powerfully and negatively to the comedic 'joke.' I am not prepared to make moral judgements about her "open" marriage situation. Honestly, I consider the marriage beyond the scope of Chris Rock and Will Smith 'conflict'!.
Yes, fashion 'drama' pluses, critiques, media, and entourages. A whole other 'universe' in award shop sphere.
I personally can't stand her, but imo she rocks her new look.
Ok, I’m officially sick of this incident now. I just saw the following headline: OJ Simpson thinks Will Smith went a little too far.
Shocker....Hollywood actors have overinflated egos.
Some people with bald heads are dying. Get over it Will and Jada..
Latest statement from the Academy. Smith was asked to leave and refused !
"The organization, which has taken criticism from its own members for not removing Smith from the Dolby Theatre after the eruption of violence, attempted to explain its own actions that night, saying Smith had been asked to leave the ceremony but refused."
“Things unfolded in a way we could not have anticipated,” the group said in its statement. “While we would like to clarify that Mr. Smith was asked to leave the ceremony and refused, we also recognize we could have handled the situation differently.”
His refusing to leave should have resulted in him not receiving the award on stage. There were other winners who didn't and he should have been one of them.
I read that Security was unsure how to handle him because he had twenty people in his entourage. That's so unreal that they apparently thought they might have to brawl with his entire Entourage.
Maybe the amount of guests they can have should be limited but I see your point.
Nothing could have been closer to the truth.