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

@SleepingStandingUp As I said upthread I think WS is highly sensitive to perceived criticism of his family's unconventional set up.

They overshare on her TV program about the polyamory and their kid leaving home at 15 with their blessing etc etc (they don't admit to the Scientology though)

Plus, he's probably angry with her for sleeping hi her son's 18 year old friend and the world finding out and project its to others

@gazprom alopecia is often comorbid with other autoimmune problems such as lupus (google it!) as well as mental health difficulties.

The hair loss she can’t hide. It’s likely there may be other problems that the public are not aware of, nor are they entitled to know.

Certainly people with alopecia can be deeply traumatised and find their lives heavily impacted.

[quote gazprom]@SleepingStandingUp As I said upthread I think WS is highly sensitive to perceived criticism of his family's unconventional set up.

They overshare on her TV program about the polyamory and their kid leaving home at 15 with their blessing etc etc (they don't admit to the Scientology though)

Plus, he's probably angry with her for sleeping hi her son's 18 year old friend and the world finding out and project its to others[/quote]
None of that justifies his actions though. In fact suggesting he hit Chris Rock cos his wife slept with their kids mate just makes him a bigger dick

If my husband punched someone for insulting me, I would be absolutely horrified. I hate violence. We have other ways of dealing with stuff like that. No one hits anyone at all in our house.

And this isn't two men in a pub, a bit pissed. This is one of the most famous men in the world, on a career-defining night, when he knows the entire world is watching and there is a live broadcast. And he can't control himself? Or does he think that hitting Rock would be entirely acceptable? Neither option says anything good about him and his approach to the world.

Chris Rock is obnoxious and has publicly made fun of the Smith’s for some time. It’s inexcusable that he make fun of her medical condition.

However, I feel really disappointed in Will Smith. I was so excited to see him win. In an oscars that has been so dominated by one race, here there was inclusivity and a platform for good. He totally blew it by conforming to the stereotype of “the angry black man”. So much more was possible and he could have handled it so much better.

They should revoke his oscar.
Despicable behaviour. It was assault.

More to it than we will ever get to know about I suppose.

Neither man behaved well. Neither was a gentleman.

And the one who would have been entitled to voice their displeasure was quiet.

Her illness should have been out of bounds.

It is ruddy hard losing chunks/all of your hair. She may look stunning with a shaved head but that doesn’t take away from how she feels inside. She may have felt how I actually looked.

One thought I have on this is that if it was a white couple, with the lady having lost her hair, this joke would have never been made. Black women are seen as fair game to be the butt of jokes unlike white women who must be defended at all costs.

If that had been Jennifer Garner or Kristen Bell or someone sat there. It would never have been said - regardless of whether the comedian is white or black. And if it had there would have been huge backlash for such a mean spirited joke.

Regardless it doesn't justify Will's response. But perhaps some more context as to why it can be more frustrating for Black celebs in Hollywood.

@Doubleraspberry

Why isn’t it a bit like two men in a pub a bit pissed? These people are human. Adding a very public “joke” into the mix adds a further layer of complexity.

@SleepingStandingUp

all the people here defending a woman who had as a 48 year old an affair with an 18-year old friend of her kid how does the sex life of two consenting adults come into whether it's OK to a. Make jokes about a medical condition B. Answer verbal abuse with physical abuse

Exactly. What has her sex life got to do with her medical condition?

@Doubleraspberry

If my husband punched someone for insulting me, I would be absolutely horrified. I hate violence. We have other ways of dealing with stuff like that. No one hits anyone at all in our house.

And this isn't two men in a pub, a bit pissed. This is one of the most famous men in the world, on a career-defining night, when he knows the entire world is watching and there is a live broadcast. And he can't control himself? Or does he think that hitting Rock would be entirely acceptable? Neither option says anything good about him and his approach to the world.

So would I.

And we know that men who hit other men don't always hit women too. My point is if we say it's ok for him to hit Chris Rock because he made a personal attack (which is a stretch tbh), then it would also be ok for him to hit a female comedian if she'd made a personal attack. too. But I guarantee there would be uproar on here if he did. Or a random on the street who heckled him about his career or marriage. And so on. When we say oh CR deserved it, then we say anyone who's ever been hit because they spoke out of line in sarcasm or dark humour also deserved it. A man could say 'well she pushed my buttons, I felt personally attacked..' and it would be ok if he slapped his partner.

You can't just go round slapping people who make a shitty comment at your expense. Christ if that was the case the world would be a free for all 24/7!

Will have been privy to all the upset his wife endured when her hair began to fall out. He'll have done all the comforting, given all the reassurance, watched her confidence ebb and wane. She looked beautiful at the Oscars and that very unfunny comedian had a go at her. Will realised Jada was humiliated and went and humiliated Rock. He shouldn't have, of course, but somehow I can't help thinking Rock had it coming.

@LampLighter414

One thought I have on this is that if it was a white couple, with the lady having lost her hair, this joke would have never been made. Black women are seen as fair game to be the butt of jokes unlike white women who must be defended at all costs.

If that had been Jennifer Garner or Kristen Bell or someone sat there. It would never have been said - regardless of whether the comedian is white or black. And if it had there would have been huge backlash for such a mean spirited joke.

Regardless it doesn't justify Will's response. But perhaps some more context as to why it can be more frustrating for Black celebs in Hollywood.

Could be some truth behind this.

[quote Eyedropeyeflop]@Doubleraspberry

Why isn’t it a bit like two men in a pub a bit pissed? These people are human. Adding a very public “joke” into the mix adds a further layer of complexity.[/quote]
Really? You can't see the difference?

It's like being in a job interview or at a wedding. You're being seen by future employers, customers - people you need to invest in you and your image for your career to continue. Unless you're suggesting that it's unreasonable to expect people to refrain from violence at any time at all?

"I read it was caused by all the toxic products she’s used on her hair over the years? Could be wrong though, although she does still have her eyebrows."

There is a condition where stress to the hair roots causes hair loss. Women who wear weaves can often suffer from this type.

When I suffered from alopecia, it was related to a series of incidents of acute stress. I got the rarer form where my eyelashes fell out. I looked like an alien for ages.

Actually, I got a bit of it again last year when we had a series of shock deaths in the family.

I knew a lass who got it badly on her head when she was ten years old, and that was stress-induced.

My feeling is that you've just got to roll with this stuff happening. I wouldn't have minded if someone had made a joke at my expense at the time. It wasn't like I was very ill, or had cancer, or anything. It was just my body's response to a series of psychological shocks, and to be honest, it was better that my eyelashes fell out than my mind fracture into a million pieces.

@Marvellousmadness

They should revoke his oscar. Despicable behaviour. It was assault.

No one revoked Harvey Weinstein's 80 Oscars. He prayed on lots of defenceless women.

No one is going to revoke Will Smith's.

Violence is not the answer.

No buts.

If you find yourself following that sentence with a “..but..” you are part of the problem.

Maybe the pair of them could donate their £140,000 tone deaf “goodie bags” to charity?

Wills been publicly humiliated for a while now since the Red Table talks have started. I think his wife always talking about Tupac is embarrassing also (for him). It’s almost a though a curtain of protection for the family has been ripped open and he (plus the wider family) are now openly mocked and he is now seen as weak.

The joke was under the belt, no doubt about that, but there was no way Chris Rock should have been assaulted in front of the world for doing his job.

I’ve seen a clip of Will Smith slapping a journalist on the red carpet in the past, so it doesn’t even look like an isolated incident.

To me it all boils down to a bunch of people who live in such a distorted sense of reality that makes them feel like they can get away with anything!

It is very different from two men in a pub pissed. Smith is a very famous man who is therefore a role model (whether you like him or not, and whether he likes it or not) to younger men. And he was on live television on a show that was being watched by millions of people.

Will Smith I'd heard had slapped someone (as @GingerFoxInAT0phat) says. His and Jada's relationship is interesting at best, especially the bits which have been played out in public.

I don't know much of Chris Rock's comedy - apart from what I've seen on TV/film. He's not that funny.

Will shouldn't have slapped Jada but Chris' joke was designed to provoke a reaction and was ill judged.

I’m totally shocked and disgusted that so many women are coming in to this post and saying CR deserved to be hit. No one ever deserves to be hit. My God, if this is so many women’s attitude to male violence, we will never end it.

@theDudesmummy

It is very different from two men in a pub pissed. Smith is a very famous man who is therefore a role model (whether you like him or not, and whether he likes it or not) to younger men. And he was on live television on a show that was being watched by millions of people.

@theDudesmummy - in my eyes - Will Smith is famous for having won his first Oscar now, but he's not in the same stratosphere as Men in Black for example.

And would younger men like the fact that someone violent/angers easily is a good role model for them?

Haven't RTFT but to be honest I would have thought that Chris Rock would have known better than to comment on a black woman's hair (or lack of), he did a documentary on the negative image of Black hair. And he said it was because he didn't want his daughter to grow up with a negative self-image because of her hair.. and then he makes a joke at the expense of a black woman's hair! Hypocritical much?

Glad WS defended her.. his and jada's sex life has nothing to do with this 'debate' as far as I see it.

Well I’m trying to take the Hollywood part out of it and think of them as just normal people.

If my friend was suffering from a health condition and some man slagged her off and made a joke out of her, publicly, If her husband went up and punched the man who upset his wife, and told him to shut up then what would I think about that.

To me Will Smith looks like a man under an enormous amount of stress. I feel sorry for them all.