Will Smith punches Chris Rock on stage at the Oscars.

[CheeseMuffin]

I think I speak for us all when I ask WTF just happened?

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/mar/27/will-smith-punch-chris-rock-wife-joke-gi-jane-video-oscars

@hidinginthekitchenwithwine

he should've used his Oscar acceptance speech to slate Chris Rock, put him in his place, along with obviously thanking the academy etc etc etc I'm so shocked that he punched CR and nobody, security etc. dragged him away and out of the auditorium. And then to go ahead and receive his Oscar and pose on the red carpet afterwards. No! They should take his Oscar away for this and he should be charged with assault. (and I can't stand CR, he's unfunny and the reference to Jade's hair was cruel and out of order)

The problem with all the people saying that, is he might not have won. He had no idea if he would get to say anything.

I'm not saying violence is the answer but I wonder if there is more back story. Did Jada have a meltdown about her hair before they went out?

And I not making excuses, he could just be a dick, I'm just speculating.

@Elfsumflowerpig

As someone who has alopecia, if someone made a joke about it onstage I would be mortified and upset. My sympathy is with Jada. Will Smith overreacted but Chris Rock was completely out of line.

This 100%

Will Smith looked as drunk as a skunk.

This has actually completely reversed my previously held opinions about the two men. I always thought Will Smith came across as a genuinely lovely man, and assumed Chris Rick was probably a dick.

After this…Will Smith has shown himself up as a violent man with little self control. A decent man would have checked on his wife and whether she wanted to leave, perhaps stood up and said that the joke was upsetting and out of order. A good man would NEVER have done what he did.

And I actually now really admire Chris Rock after this. He told a bad joke, he’s a comedian and it happens. I’ve seen far worse and it was hardly a complete roast of JPS.

But the way he reacted with shock, but did not immediately retailing with force and then went out of his way to put other people at ease and to placate the violent Neanderthal that just hit him on live television…that is how a decent man behaves.

@guiltyregrets

Urgh can't stand Chris rock, he's definitely had that coming to him. He fully deserved that slap.

He did not deserve to be assaulted on stage. Everyone is aware of the type of jokes made by Chris Rock, which is why he was hired. He takes no prisoners.He is a comedian. That joke was very tame by Chris Rock standards Will Smith should have that Oscar taken away from him for bringing the Oscars into disrepute

I can’t stand Chris Rock and his ‘joke’ was yet another of his vile outbursts that he calls entertainment but I also can’t stand violence.

I hope they both apologise to Jada.

Chris Rock made a nasty spiteful joke at a woman’s expense and everyone is expected to laugh at her and think he’s edgy/it was just banter. Not acceptable.

I was at a comedy show fairly recently and the comic is gay, it's a bit part of his show and he made a joke about vaginas and then gagged, a lot of people found it funny but I didn't tbh as thought it was quite sexist.. should I have gone up and slapped him one!?

@jungledoc

Chris did verbal abuse, Will reiterated with physical abuse. You sometimes don't get to choose what form someone is going to come back at you. Maybe next keep a check on yourself.

Men use this excuse for domestic violence all the time!

Men use this excuse for domestic violence all the time!

Yep. The fact that women on here are echoing it is really disappointing.

[quote unname] I don't think they'd allow that sort of language on live tv.

They’ve been delaying live tv in the US for decades. One almost never hears hears the bad language on regular stations because it is bleeped out. Everyone on the screen knows this and also, he was not wearing a mic anyway?

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcast_delay#History[/quote]

The sound was cut out, seems only Australia and Japan got the full live audio.

I think Will Smith was awesome. Making jokes on live TV about Will’s wife’s medical condition crossed a line. It was refreshing to see someone standing up for his wife instead of smiling and nodding and telling the woman that she has no right to be upset when mocked.

👏 Will Smith.

This comes after Chris saying this in 2016:

'Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna’s panties – I wasn’t invited!”

If you see her reaction to the joke, she is furious, and it wouldn't surprise me if him not sticking up for her last time has already caused issues. Not that I'm justifying his aggression, it is an absolute car crash to watch, but Will has been public about his mental health and relationship issues, so it explains how this has been a trigger. First a cheap sexist joke, now a joke about her alopecia. I wonder why he has it in for Jada so badly, and if there is any further history there?

The joke was out of order but Will Smith shouldn't have hit him.

He has been laughing at it until he saw his wife was offended so a bit of a full 180 turn to go from laughing at it to hitting him and shouting.

Just watched unedited footage. The “joke” was nanoseconds long and in no way the worst thing that would have been joked about on an awards stage (though I don’t understand why ripping piss out of fellow performers is the norm at these things anyway!) Having said that it wasn’t a funny joke given he knew about her condition etc etc. Jaffa’s own reaction to it was perfect. She clearly had the fix “laugh along enjoying show” look which then turned into a perfect eye roll when CR “joke” registered. That alone would have made some headline especially if she put out statement explaining “her condition and shouldn’t be joked about abs her is link to info to educate yourself CR” blah blah. But no Jada’s own reaction has been completely taken over by her husbands violence. I agree with those that have said he was laughing initial then saw Jada’s face and realised he looked like a prat laughing at his wife. The walking up deliberate hitting then the sheer anger in his face and voice when sitting back down is really shocking and enlightening of the man he is behind his persona. Nasty nasty nasty. Chris Rock comes out of it better even though he’s the one that made a off colour joke. He looked unsure when Will stormed up to him then his comments after seemed shocked and he’s clearly unsure of what he should be doing.

No one had a right to slap someone and be that aggressive. WS could have shouted up at the stage that it wasn’t a funny joke or similar but he’s have been better to let his wife’s reaction speak for itself. He was embarrassed he laughed along without thinking and then massively overreacted to his embarrassment.

The most shocking thing after his outburst is that he wasn’t asked to leave his seating. He was allowed to sit back down and then accept his award like nothing had happened. That isn’t a lesson any of our children should be exposed to (ie if someone says something nasty it’s alright to be violent to them no one will care abs you’ll still get your award and platform to speak at).

I can only imagine it’s not the first time WS has slapped someone either judging by that.

I think him laughing originally was just an awkward/uncomfortable laugh and it probably took him a few seconds of being in the spotlight to register the GI Jane joke, and to witness Jada's reaction.

@GatoradeMeBitch

Reddit has decided, predictably, that Jada was to blame. She should have laughed and not somehow pushed Will (in the second the camera was off her) to go and defend her. It's all her fault for looking sad.

The whole thing actually has made me a bit concerned about her. I'd heard Will Smith could be a bit intense, but that he could lose his temper that badly... Anyone thinking this was a set up - how much do you think they could pay Will Smith to damage his reputation so badly? He got the hugs and applause tonight, but don't be surprised if we start to see a lot less of him.

Disappointingly there has been a bit of that on this thread, too.

Will was way out of line and should have been escorted out immediately. Violence is never the answer especially in response to a crap joke. If he was that desperate to confront Chris then he should have said something like "I was coming up here to punch you in the face but I'm going to tell you why your joke just flopped instead. My wife has a medical condition" or something. That would've been utterly humiliating for Chris but instead Will made a fool of himself, and Jada, for choosing violence. Will shouldn't have reacted at all though - that's what we teach our kids isn't it? Sticks and stones and all that.

Understandable if Chris didn't know Jada has alopecia - I didn't either. It's not obvious at all. My dh suffered with alopecia during the first two years of our relationship. He had big circles all over his head where his hair had completely fallen out. The circles were completely bald - just bare skin like you'd find on your palm. Jada has hair with no bald spots, you can see the stubble/regrowth all over her head. With no sign of the classic symptoms of alopecia, it does look like she just shaved her head which she did - she shaved her head when her daughter shaved hers. Jada did say on Red Table Talk in Sep 2021 the reason she shaved it was because of "hair loss (joking her hairline had moved back) and spiritual calling" but I very much doubt Chris saw that.

I think the whole episode highlights the sham that is the Oscars/celebrity life.

Dress up, parade for the cameras, sit through hosts making nasty jokes, pretend that it's all ok, you're living the dream when the reality is that there's awful shit going on is some people's lives.

I don't condone the violence but I expect that last night the slap, for even a brief moment, brought people out of la la land and into reality.

Chris should take on someone his own size
How is Jada not "his size"? She looks pretty formidable to me, and capable of standing up for herself without having to set a Rottweiler on anyone.

I really feel for Jada. I think Will maybe has issues that he needs to deal with for sure. There’s certainly more at play here which has resulted in him reacting in such a violent way to the situation.
It was a cruel joke, Chris Rock has form for trying to humiliate people in the name of comedy. Unfortunately Will managed to humiliate her further.
I also really feel for the other winners of the awards, this has completely overshadowed the night. Especially sad as this year celebrated diversity more than any other before it.

All the people hi fiving Will Smith for assaulting someone because he was offended.
Makes me wonder if they really do see it as being acceptable , almost entitled , what kind of people they are at home.
If their partners, kids , parents say something they find offensive do they find it acceptable to put their hands on them. I truly wonder

Person insults another persons spouse and gets slapped in the face… unremarkable.

@Hopingforabagofbuttons

All the people hi fiving Will Smith for assaulting someone because he was offended. Makes me wonder if they really do see it as being acceptable , almost entitled , what kind of people they are at home. If their partners, kids , parents say something they find offensive do they find it acceptable to put their hands on them. I truly wonder

Or….

If their DHs were offended by something THEY said would THEY be content in their DHs hitting THEM.

I mean after all, it’s warranted right. That’s what they’ve said.

@Thewindwhispers

I think Will Smith was awesome. Making jokes on live TV about Will’s wife’s medical condition crossed a line. It was refreshing to see someone standing up for his wife instead of smiling and nodding and telling the woman that she has no right to be upset when mocked.

👏 Will Smith.

This perpetuates the idea that men becoming violent shows that he really cares about his wife.. it doesn't, he became violent because he lost control of himself and now he's embarrassed both himself and his wife. Too many women excuse violent behaviour by telling themselves that it's because the man really cares about them

'It was a cruel joke, Chris Rock has form for trying to humiliate people in the name of comedy.'

Many comedians do. Look at Gervais mocking Scorcese for being small or saying Prince Andrew had even said to DiCaprio 'come on Leo you're pushing 50' regarding his habit of having very, very young girlfriends at the globes. Some 'comedy' is in bad taste and offensive. You just do not march up to folk and attack them.

The Smiths and Rock clearly have issues and that is the problem not Smith's wife alopecia.