If he had warned him once before, and not saying he did, but if he did, then ok. Deliver the blow. But if not, then I don't see how he has a comedian himself can't take the joke and give him a warning back stage.
About 10 years ago when I was working for a company before my business I had an annoying coworker, he was a fat 300 pound country boy dude but very stout and strong that jokingly liked to prod others- so there was a day he came up behind me and reached out and slapped me on me chest area , it wasn’t a light tap either - I gave him a look and told him to stop - he made a comment he was just being friendly but he knew I wasn’t having it …. I wasn’t having my best day as well and was aggravated at something else …later on sure enough he repeats the same thing and something in me felt like I had to lash out- I turned and gave him a solid punch in his ribs - I can tell he felt it because his whole body tensed up but to my shock he barely moved - I didn’t know what I was expecting thinking I might knock him down with a body shot I suppose , but I instantly thought “o my god, I lost my job” then as he stared at me I thought - great we are about to throw down in a place of work .. he mumbled something like “better be glad I like you” - and the situation diffused never had an issue with him afterwards interestingly but it could have gone south - however what if I broke his ribs? Then what? Grown men really shouldn’t fight unless it’s true self defense. The risk of severe bodily injury is great - ( luckily for me nothing came of it and I left the company a year and a half later to pursue my own business ) But what if Smith used a closed fist and caused damage to Rock’s face? People have suffered fractured face bones or cracked teeth or a broken nose ..This could have gone so south easily - the slap was a smart move in a way -likely prevented a simple assault charge - but the optics in hindsight may affect his future acting gigs …Will Smith was one of my favorite actors growing up in my younger days so I do wish him the best
Take Smith and Rock out of it - a man got assaulted on live TV and the perpetrator was not removed, but later cheered. Shame on the Oscars. Of course Rock isn’t pressing charges. He would be emasculated even more. He’s a comedian. It was a joke. At best Rock didn’t know and at worst it was tasteless. In any case game changing night for comedians.
Rock has a history of making quips at the expense of Pinkett Smith. In 2016, when he presented the ceremony that had been boycott due to its lack of diversity, Rock said: “Jada [Pinkett Smith] boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna’s panties. I wasn’t invited.”
It is assault at the end of the day but because it was a good old slap instead of a fist it got softened. Chris Rock took it well and did not press charges. Imagine Dwayne Johnson.
That was a Kanye moment. A cry for help from someone clearly not in a good place. Props to Chris Rock for keeping it together. Negative props to the venue/academy for not physically removing Smith after that. Not a good look.
It wasn't even like a diss kind of joke. I'm just goin to say it and be real, can we go back to Oscars being white? This ain't the BET awards or magic johnson theater wtf is going on?
I think it all built up. It was the 2nd time someone came after Jada that night and that was a hard joke...like Rock was playing friendly with everyone else and then makes a joke about her hair which is related to her illness. I feel like while this wasn't fake they are both going to profit from this and next year it'll be a joke. When Will is presenting Chris Rock will come up to the stage and fake smack him or something and everyone will have a good laugh about it and move on and Will and Chris can plug their new buddy cop film or whatever.
With what's going on in the world, I mean a slap is something else for a change, even if it is a triggered in the moment sort of action. The first time was Regina Hall calling out Will to come on stage as a desired single man, saying Jada approved. (LeBron's hairline as special effects in Space Jam 2)
I really think Will was more scared of what trouble he would encounter from Jada at home if he were not going to "take a stand" than he was scared about what doing this could do to his reputation. That woman seems to have quite a bit of power over him.
This is how out of touch I am with popular culture. I totally forget the Oscars were even on. Just saw this this morning. Well Dayamm
I guess it's to be expected but I'm also annoyed at hearing people treat this like this was some sort of major tragedy.
