Will Smith is a sensitive b**** and just embarrassed Black man

it's like day 7 after the incident and nobody's cancelled yet. quite disappointing. someone needs to be cancelled. don't matter who. tom hanks, don cheadle, hellen the generous... somebody.

 

Chris Rock knew.

 

I'm waiting on financial sanctions to be imposed. I'm quite confused that this hasn't happened yet.

If there's one thing I've learned living in America, then it is if we don't like your behavior...financial sanctions.

 

just b/c he did a documentary on black womens hair doesnt mean he knew that jada had a medical condition.

 

im a few years younger than yall. "im the rapper, he's the DJ" came out when i was in middle school and i listened to the s*** out of that album. will smith was the coolest dude at that time. now he is a emasculated, crying cuck. what a downfall.

i think more than jada, he changed when they became scientologists. its a cult that turns its celebrity followers into f***ing weirdos.

he has been cultivating this good guy image for the last 30 years and chunked it in one moment. this is a dude who turned down the lead in jango unchained b/c he thought it would negatively impact his image. im glad he did b/c i cant imagine anyone other than foxx playing him now.

 

Maher hit it on his show yesterday.

When people get old, that's all of us. It's more than 50% women (older than 40) with noticeable hair loss, and 80% for men. It happens when people grow old. Part of life. Lot of people deal with it, not just his wife.

"if that's someone's biggest medical problem, consider him/herself very lucky."

As far as beauty and image, Jada looked fine bald. If she's self-conscious, then like lot of women she can put on a wig or a stylish hat. The joke is very tame by current comedian standards.

 

What if the joke was, “Jada...I love you! When is Black Panther 2 coming out?”? Or, “Dune 2”? Or, “Coming to America 3”?

 

We should all be thankful that he didn't ruin The Matrix and Django.

 

You're looking at April, 18th that is when they have their grand meeting.

 

Jada's part was too insignificant and not the first one.

 

Not sure if this was posted but it’s very powerful imho….

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (UCLA ‘69) writes:

When Will Smith stormed onto the Oscar stage to strike Chris Rock for making a joke about his wife's short hair, he did a lot more damage than just to Rock's face. With a single petulant blow, he advocated violence, diminished women, insulted the entertainment industry, and perpetuated stereotypes about the Black community.

That's a lot to unpack. Let's start with the facts: Rock made a reference to Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, as looking like Demi Moore in 'G.I. Jane,' in which Moore had shaved her head. Jada Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia, which causes hair loss. Ok, I can see where the Smiths might not have found that joke funny. But Hollywood awards shows are traditionally a venue where much worse things have been said about celebrities as a means of downplaying the fact that it's basically a gathering of multimillionaires giving each other awards to boost business so they can make even more money.

The Smiths could have reacted by politely laughing along with the joke or by glowering angrily at Rock. Instead, Smith felt the need to get up in front of his industry peers and millions of people around the world, hit another man, then return to his seat to bellow: 'Keep my wife's name out of your ****ing mouth.' Twice.

Some have romanticized Smith's actions as that of a loving husband defending his wife. Comedian Tiffany Haddish, who starred in the movie 'Girls Trip' with Pinkett Smith, praised Smith's actions: '[F]or 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.' Actually, it was the opposite. Smith's slap was also a slap to women. If Rock had physically attacked Pinkett Smith, Smith's intervention would have been welcome. Or if he'd remained in his seat and yelled his post-slap threat, that would have been unnecessary, but understandable.

But by hitting Rock, he announced that his wife was incapable of defending herself—against words. From everything I'd seen of Pinkett Smith over the years, she's a very capable, tough, smart woman who can single-handedly take on a lame joke at the Academy Awards show. This patronizing, paternal attitude infantilizes women and reduces them to helpless damsels needing a Big Strong Man to defend their honor least they swoon from the vapors. If he was really doing it for his wife, and not his own need to prove himself, he might have thought about the negative attention this brought on them, much harsher than the benign joke. That would have been truly defending and respecting her.

This 'women need men to defend them' is the same justification currently being proclaimed by conservatives passing laws to restrict abortion and the LGBTQ+ community. Worse than the slap was Smith's tearful, self-serving acceptance speech in which he rambled on about all the women in the movie 'King Richard' that he's protected. Those who protect don't brag about it in front of 15 million people. They just do it and shut up. You don't do it as a movie promotion claiming how you're like the character you just won an award portraying.

But, of course, the speech was about justifying his violence. Apparently, so many people need Smith's protection that occasionally it gets too much and someone needs to be smacked. What is the legacy of Smith's violence? He's brought back the Toxic Bro ideal of embracing Kobra Kai teachings of 'might makes right' and 'talk is for losers.' Let's not forget that this macho John Wayne philosophy was expressed in two movies in which Wayne spanked grown women to teach them a lesson.

Young boys—especially Black boys—watching their movie idol not just hit another man over a joke, but then justify it as him being a superhero-like protector, are now much more prone to follow in his childish footsteps.

Perhaps the saddest confirmation of this is the tweet from Smith's child Jaden: 'And That’s How We Do It.' The Black community also takes a direct hit from Smith. One of the main talking points from those supporting the systemic racism in America is characterizing Blacks as more prone to violence and less able to control their emotions. Smith just gave comfort to the enemy by providing them with the perfect optics they were dreaming of. Many will be reinvigorated to continue their campaign to marginalize African Americans and others through voter suppression campaign.

As for the damage to show business, Smith's violence is an implied threat to all comedians who now have to worry that an edgy or insulting joke might be met with violence. Good thing Don Rickles, Bill Burr, or Ricky Gervais weren't there. As comedian Kathy Griffin tweeted: 'Now we all have to worry about who wants to be the next Will Smith in comedy clubs and theaters.'

The one bright note is that Chris Rock, clearly stunned, managed to handle the moment with grace and maturity. If only Smith's acceptance speech had shown similar grace and maturity—and included, instead of self-aggrandizing excuses, a heartfelt apology to Rock.

 

He didn't know? That's an obtuse response. It's about having social awareness. Just don't go there.

Sorta like asking a woman if she's pregnant! There is a good chance she's simply overweight ...and now you made her feel bad and you look like an a-hole.

 

Good points. Smith's reaction was more problematic than I originally realized in the immediate aftermath of the incident. And the joke really should not have been treated as fighting words. Celebrities and their appearance get made fun of all the time. Maybe we should be questioning why female baldness should be considered some sort of devastating health condition that is out of bounds for jokes, but a lot of the commentary seems to just take that for granted.

Will Smith doesn't have a history of violent outbursts, as far as I'm aware, and I think his apologies and willingness to resign from the academy should be sufficient for everyone to move past this. But people revel in punishment and cancelation these days, and they won't be satisfied by anything he or the academy does anytime soon.

 

Comedians at the Oscars make jokes about celebrities
That’s been going on for 50 years

 

i didnt say "he didnt know". i said "just b/c he did a documentary on black womens hair doesnt mean he knew that jada had a medical condition."

ive already said my opinion would be different if rock did know, but even then i really dont think it justifies what will smith did.

and i disagree that a comedian should "just not go there". it was a harmless joke, which smith himself initially laughed at.

 

Will Smith is a Scientologist? ouch

 

I’m not all into canceling people/things like so many are today. That said, I’m not so sure it’s a simple as the apology and resigning.

For me, this is more about how can Will make this up to Chris Rock? Can he? Not sure. Rock was the one that was hurt by this. To say what Will did was unnecessary is an understatement. This was damaging on so many levels. It’s going to be interesting to see how this continues to develop.

 

this is classic manipulation and gaslighting lmao

 

He turned down the role of Neo, did Wild Wild West instead (a movie I have never seen, but this factoid is apparently its only redeeming quality).