I expected to come on here and see this be a big topic of discussion! lol

For those of you that are unaware, Chris Rock made a joke about Will Smith's wife and her hair loss. Smith was originally seen laughing, but then walks on stage, open hand smacks Rock across the face and walks back to his seat before yelling "keep my wife's name out your (expiative) mouth." There has been a ton of talk about it on morning talk radio, the news stations and social media. 

Many are discussing whether they believe it was staged. I was a firm believer that it was not, but about 10 minutes ago I saw a video from a different angle that appears to show Rock lean into the slap. That move makes me wonder and when you compound it with the fact that he held his composure so well I could see it being staged. 

38 minutes ago, ChickenWyngz said:

Many are discussing whether they believe it was staged. I was a firm believer that it was not, but about 10 minutes ago I saw a video from a different angle that appears to show Rock lean into the slap. That move makes me wonder and when you compound it with the fact that he held his composure so well I could see it being staged. 

Heard some conjecture on the radio this morning that said Chris may have been leaning in, anticipating Will saying something in his ear.

Will Smith's Oscar acceptance speech makes it pretty clear it was not staged.

There is some history. Chris Rock made jokes about Jada a few years ago that also generated controversy.

2 minutes ago, Voice of Reason said:

Will Smith's Oscar acceptance speech makes it pretty clear it was not staged.

There is some history. Chris Rock made jokes about Jada a few years ago that also generated controversy.

Yep... I just saw the acceptance speech and a video of Rock's reaction as he walked backstage. Definitely not staged. 

All time craziest moment in pop culture history. For those that don't know, Jada Smith has alopecia and Rock made a joke about her being in GI Jane 2. You could feel the awkwardness the remainder of the night, highlighted then by Smith receiving his best actor award and delivering a bizarre 10 minute speech. In short, this is why the internet was invented. I have no doubt in the next day or two the Smiths will become sympathetic figures in all of this.

And no, it was not staged. Not everything in life has to be a conspiracy theory.

3 minutes ago, Voice of Reason said:

Will Smith's Oscar acceptance speech makes it pretty clear it was not staged.

There is some history. Chris Rock made jokes about Jada a few years ago that also generated controversy.

Which always brings up the question as to what is off limits for comedians. If you know anything about Jada and Will's relationship, Rock only scratched the surface of insults. Granted, I don't have alopecia, but both people I know that do have it can be self-conscious about it, but they also have some self-deprecation about it all. I would have assumed Jada (and Will) would be in the same boat being in the spotlight like they are. I think there is more history there than we know about.

10 minutes ago, bugatti said:

Which always brings up the question as to what is off limits for comedians. If you know anything about Jada and Will's relationship, Rock only scratched the surface of insults. Granted, I don't have alopecia, but both people I know that do have it can be self-conscious about it, but they also have some self-deprecation about it all. I would have assumed Jada (and Will) would be in the same boat being in the spotlight like they are. I think there is more history there than we know about.

I read a quote from hers where she talked about shaving her head and having alopecia.  She stated, "All I can do is laugh about it."

I guess not. LOL

15 minutes ago, Randy Parker said:

I read a quote from hers where she talked about shaving her head and having alopecia.  She stated, "All I can do is laugh about it."

I guess not. LOL

So far I've been on the train of, "I don't care if you're a comedian some things are off limits," but this is funny. 

4 minutes ago, ChickenWyngz said:

So far I've been on the train of, "I don't care if you're a comedian some things are off limits," but this is funny. 

I don't really care one way or another, but I saw that quote and it made me chuckle.

6 minutes ago, ChickenWyngz said:

So far I've been on the train of, "I don't care if you're a comedian some things are off limits," but this is funny. 

It was from Variety.

Pinkett Smith announced last year she shaved her head after struggling with alopecia. The actor said in an Instagram post, “Now at this point, I can only laugh… y’all know I’ve been struggling with alopecia. Just all of a sudden, one day…it just showed up like that. Now, this is going to be a little bit more difficult for me to hide. So, I thought I’d just share it so y’all not asking any questions…Mama’s gonna have to take it down to the scalp so nobody thinks she got brain surgery or something. Me and this alopecia are going to be friends … period!”

https://variety.com/2022/film/news/chris-rock-punches-will-smith-oscars-fight-1235216387/

Imagine if that had been Hancock slapping Chris Rock, or even Detective Spooner. 

18 minutes ago, theguru said:

Imagine if that had been Hancock slapping Chris Rock, or even Detective Spooner. 

Alas, it was the Fresh Prince slapping Marty from Madagascar.

My lasting impression is what a pro about it Chris Rock was.  Chris Rock is one of the greatest standups of all-time - he could have treated Smith like any heckler and absolutely CRUSHED him and Jada after that if he wanted to.  There is an incredible wealth of material that would have been all too easy for him to go to immediately.  He took the slap, gathered himself (you could tell he was shaken in the immediate aftermath), and proceeded to do the job he was there to do.  The best Will Smith could have done if Rock began to verbally destroy him is to once again resort to violence, and that wouldn't have worked out well for anyone. 

That joke would have been one no one would even have remembered if not for Smith doing that.  It was extremely tame.  Smith even laughed at it, and then realized that Jada wasn't about it, and then in my opinion, did what he did to try to save face.  Which again, probably has something to do with the beating he has publicly taken over their marriage.  I think people are retroactively going after Rock in a way they wouldn't have to try to justify what Smith did, but make no mistake, Smith was way, way, way out of line.

All that said, when Smith was giving his speech, I felt bad for him.  Not for any of the content of his speech - it was clear he was using it to try to justify his actions and never apologized to Rock during it - but because this should have been the greatest professional moment of his career and his actions ruined it, and he knew that.  This is a man who was one of the worst actors you'll ever see when his career on Fresh Prince started, and he climbed the ladder to win one of the most prestigious awards there is.  And in the span of seconds, he undermined it.  I can't imagine what that must feel like.

 

19 minutes ago, gchs_uk9 said:

Alas, it was the Fresh Prince slapping Marty from Madagascar.