Classic Snopes: Will Smith Arsenio Hall bald joke "fact check"

durvasa · Mar 31, 2022

Os Trigonum said: ↑

yeah, but I guess I'd say Snopes should still stay out of it. The point of the recirculated video of Will Smith telling bald jokes at someone else's expense in likely ignorance of the cause of that person's baldness was to compare to Chris Rock telling a bald joke at someone else's expense in possible ignorance of the cause of that person's baldness.

You can't have your cake and eat it too, this is the point of the comparison and of possibly exposing--or at least raising the question of--the hypocrisy of Will Smith's actions here. On that question Snopes is 100% unqualified to speak.
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That's another good point. Though pretty much all instances of people using violence against someone else are instances of hypocrisy. The problematic nature of Smith's reaction doesn't rest in him making a bald joke 30 years ago.

AroundTheWorld · Mar 31, 2022

Os Trigonum said: ↑

"fact check"

Did Will Smith Make an Alopecia Joke on ‘The Arsenio Hall Show’?
An old clip of Will Smith making a bald joke resurfaced after the actor hit Chris Rock for making a bald joke at the Oscars.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/will-smith-arsenio-hall/

excerpt:

Claim
A video shows Will Smith making a bald joke directed at a person with alopecia during an appearance on "The Arsenio Hall Show."
Rating

Miscaptioned
About this rating
Context
The video is real. Will Smith really did tell a bald joke during an appearance on "The Arsenio Hall Show" in 1991. However, there's no evidence to suggest that this joke was directed at someone with alopecia. The miscaptioned video went viral after Smith slapped Chris Rock during an Oscars telecast for making a bald joke about Smith's wife, who does suffer from alopecia areata.

Which is hilarious given that alopecia is simply a medical term for virtually ALL forms of baldness. Male-pattern baldness, for example, is Androgenetic alopecia:

https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/condition/androgenetic-alopecia/

Medline Plus even helpfully provides a photo in case people are unfamiliar with male-pattern alopecia:

View attachment 9284

I know some posters here like to talk about disinformation and misinformation and how sites like Snopes are so crucial for establishing Truth capital "T", but I'd rather not trust sites like Snopes or Facebook or Twitter--or the Washington Post or the New York Times for that matter--to make those decisions for me. I'd rather have the freedom to do some of that digging and research for myself, thank you, if I so choose, and I would prefer it if others shared the same freedom.

Bottom line: America. Love it or Leave it.
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I love America.

Invisible Fan · Mar 31, 2022

Os Trigonum said: ↑

I know some posters here like to talk about disinformation and misinformation and how sites like Snopes are so crucial for establishing Truth capital "T", but I'd rather not trust sites like Snopes or Facebook or Twitter--or the Washington Post or the New York Times for that matter--to make those decisions for me. I'd rather have the freedom to do some of that digging and research for myself, thank you, if I so choose, and I would prefer it if others shared the same freedom.

Bottom line: America. Love it or Leave it.
Click to expand...

I'd rather fact check myself, but for inane bullshit (this veers on that for me) fact checkers are like relying on the first entries on google.

Os Trigonum · Mar 31, 2022

Invisible Fan said: ↑

I'd rather fact check myself, but for inane bullshit (this veers on that for me) fact checkers are like relying on the first entries on google.
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then you'll probably really like this current thread in the DISH, a high quality fact check if I ever saw one

https://bbs.clutchfans.net/threads/...n-clutch-in-his-career-ends-right-now.315306/

Invisible Fan · Mar 31, 2022

Os Trigonum said: ↑

then you'll probably really like this current thread in the DISH, a high quality fact check if I ever saw one

https://bbs.clutchfans.net/threads/...n-clutch-in-his-career-ends-right-now.315306/
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Pssh, I'm more of a numbers Gematria kind of guy.

Every thread I read, I ask myself would Durrel Murry be proud??

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