32 minutes ago, bugatti said:

Maybe he will still end up issuing a statement, but I thought it was bizarre he (a comedian) would issue an apology for something on that low of a level of inappropriateness.

Serious question…….

 

Is that what you would tell your wife if she was losing her hair because of a disease and a comedian cracked jokes at her expense?  

9 minutes ago, Voice of Reason said:

I liken it to making fun of someone in a wheelchair or muscular dystrophy. Sure, loss of hair not as tragic but it is a medical/health condition she has no ability to change.

I agree. Especially given the situation, the Oscars being a pretty big, nationally televised event. Maybe at a roast, something like this wouldn't be off limits. And while in the grand scheme of things this was pretty tame, picking on a medical condition, no matter how mild, is pretty close to crossing the line. Not only was it in poor taste, it really wan't all that funny. I expect better from someone of his talent.

 

Are we sure Chris Rock knew it was because of a medical condition?  Could it have been possible that he thought she shaved her head for a movie role?  I'm sure that's unlikely but I didn't know she had alopecia. 

Granted, I'm just a dude sitting in NKY, not paying much attention to anything Hollywood.  I didn't even know the Oscars were on until I looked through Twitter Monday morning and saw everything blowing up haha!

Watched the movie "Crash" again last night, for the first time in quite a while.  The scene after the cop molests Thandie Newton's character in the movie, where she's yelling at Terrance Howard's character, it really made me think of Jada & Will Smith for some reason.

9 minutes ago, PurplePride92 said:

Serious question…….

 

Is that what you would tell your wife if she was losing her hair because of a disease and a comedian cracked jokes at her expense?  

If we lived in a vacuum, maybe the circumstance would be different. I am going by the couple people I know with alopecia that have embraced it as who they are - as Jada says she has. Look, I am not saying the joke was good, appropriate, or well-timed, but I also know having watched... I don't know, the last 30,000 award shows, if you sit front row there might be jabs thrown at you. So to answer your question, if I were at a comedy show and my wife were that offended or upset, the manly move would have been to walk out in protest. 

According to TMZ Chris Rock did not know Smith's wife suffered from alopecia.  If true, that certainly changes the calculation here, correct?

4 minutes ago, theguru said:

According to TMZ Chris Rock did not know Smith's wife suffered from alopecia.  If true, that certainly changes the calculation here, correct?

I believe so.  He even said, "it was a GI Jane joke!".  I'm not sure he was aware.  As someone commented, the joke was more appropriate for a roast or similar venue.  

 

To stir it up even more, if Will Smith had this disease and the joke was aimed at him, would there have been a reaction and would we be talking about it?  As someone once said, with equal rights comes equal shots.  

8 minutes ago, theguru said:

According to TMZ Chris Rock did not know Smith's wife suffered from alopecia.  If true, that certainly changes the calculation here, correct?

It would, but I'm not sure I buy it. 

I still don't care that he did the joke, FWIW.

I'm predicting this sets us up for a cage match with no disqualifications for the 2023 Oscars.

19 minutes ago, theguru said:

According to TMZ Chris Rock did not know Smith's wife suffered from alopecia.  If true, that certainly changes the calculation here, correct?

Maybe a little. I'm just of the belief that people's physical appearance is a touchy enough subject, that it should be left alone in comedy unless you know the whole story, or have a really good relationship with that person. Nobody likes to be made fun of for the way they look especially in front of all their peers and a national audience. I know I'll probably catch flames for this opinion, but I've seen people be very hurt by those types of comments. 

2 minutes ago, rjs4470 said:

Maybe a little. I'm just of the belief that people's physical appearance is a touchy enough subject, that it should be left alone in comedy unless you know the whole story, or have a really good relationship with that person. Nobody likes to be made fun of for the way they look especially in front of all their peers and a national audience. I know I'll probably catch flames for this opinion, but I've seen people be very hurt by those types of comments. 

In my experience the majority of people are self-conscious in one or more ways about their appearance so no argument here on it being a sensitive subject.  With that said, sitting up front for stand up comedy comes with the the risk of being picked on.  

One more Bengals one:

42 minutes ago, theguru said:

According to TMZ Chris Rock did not know Smith's wife suffered from alopecia.  If true, that certainly changes the calculation here, correct?

That's one of the things I was thinking about. I mean, I sure as hell didn't know Jada Pinkett had alopecia....but I am definitely well aware that she's had super short hair, nearing on buzzed head in most of the movie and TV appearances I've seen her in over the last decade.

In most of what I've heard regarding Jada's alopecia, people keep saying, "She's been very open about that on her online talk show and on Instagram." Chris Rock follows about 1400 people on Instagram. I just checked with the search feature...and none of them are Jada.

Are we sure that Chris Rock was making fun of Jada for having alopecia rather than just making fun of her hair cut...which he didn't realize was her way to cope with having alopecia?

1 hour ago, MJAlltheWay24 said:

Are we sure Chris Rock knew it was because of a medical condition?  Could it have been possible that he thought she shaved her head for a movie role?  I'm sure that's unlikely but I didn't know she had alopecia. 

Granted, I'm just a dude sitting in NKY, not paying much attention to anything Hollywood.  I didn't even know the Oscars were on until I looked through Twitter Monday morning and saw everything blowing up haha!

Yea...what you said, lol.

Rock's excited utterance after being assaulted by Smith was it was a JI Jane Joke or something similar to that.   My gut feeling would be Rock didn't know or he would not have said that and I assume would have stayed away from the joke period.