Will Smith/Chris Rock Oscars - where do you stand?

[Jaggerdagger]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/entertainment-arts-60898250

I'm a bit on the fence at the moment but shocked from watching this - wondered what others think?

YABU Will Smith had every right to wallop Chris. His wife was clearly deeply insulted. He deserved it.
YANBU Chris was just reading from a script and didn't deserve such a public assault.

@Chishnfips

He's going to have to move in with his auntie and uncle in Bel Air.

I watched it and it was shocking!
I found CR's "joke" in poor taste and disgusting.
I found WS's reaction even more disgusting.
It would have had so much more impact if either Jada or Will had said something about how hard autoimmune conditions/medical conditions are to deal with and how proud he was of his wife. That would have made CR look like the weasel he was and would have been more dignified.
I didn't like Amy Schumer's "joke" about Jennifer Lawrence putting on weight either.
Don't know if it's been the pandemic or what, but I just think the Oscar's are self indulgent self congratulatory twaddle!

I'm not excusing it. He has a diagnosis of Non verbal learning disability.

well, the joke was most likely scripted. I get that the fashion is to "roast" at these things - but that is just another way of saying "punching down" for the most part.

My estimation of Chris Rock is where it always has been: very low because he just isn't funny.
My estimation of Will Smith: pretty much where it has been for ages which is "meh" because he really hasn't made any excellent films lately.

JP - i didn't know about the alopecia. Good for her for takling about it. Her gown was stunning. IMO the best reaction would have been for her to have accepted WSs award on his behalf and made a point about not using events like this to roast people but to build people up.

It was a bit of a mean joke perhaps but people are routinely roasted at ceremonies like this.

Maybe that's the problem. Insults and 'roasting' have become part of formal ceremonies when maybe they should be confined to comedy clubs where the attendees are there to hear it. This is a mixed audience of movie actors and fans - it's not comedy gig.

Gentle teasing has always happened, but comedians being given one of the biggest stages on TV to target anyone they like for whatever reason they like is not the best use of that space. I imagine that WS has watched JP have some very dark moments over her hair loss - to have then smile and nod when a comedian takes cheap shots about it is asking a lot.

He shouldn't have used violence, but maybe it will change things for the future. We teach our children not to use to violence but we also teach them to be kind and thoughtful to others.

Giving CS the green light to personally insult people with disabilities or embarrassing conditions is sending the wrong message just as much as the violent response did.

Or RG is just much cleverer? by miles, his Golden Globe 2020 is brilliant , talking about Hollywood wokesim , and double standards while still making fun of them of all.

@PutinIsAWarCriminal

I hate this type of bullying banter. Good for Will, I say. Violence is crap, but so is joking to a woman's face in front of the whole world about a devastating medical condition that affects her appearance.

I agree. It was an awful insult - absolutely disgusting way to behave and not in the slightest bit related to "banter" or "joking around". It was an out and out insult to Jada in front of the whole world. Can you imagine if it was someone like Simon Weston at a charity event and the host said something derogatory about his appearance. All hell would break loose. I don't agree with the violence but there a quite a lot of me that thinks that Chris got what he deserved to be honest.

A private discussion, a tweet criticising Chris Rock, saying in his speech "my wife has alopecia, please don't joke about it" are all things he could have done and been celebrated for.

Smacking someone and swearing is not okay.

If it was scripted, why would it be scripted? What is there to gain from staging a slap? How would it be funny?

I think Will was initially laughing because it hadn't sunk in yet, which is probably how I would have reacted at first.

@Brefugee

I'm not excusing it. He has a diagnosis of Non verbal learning disability.

well, the joke was most likely scripted. I get that the fashion is to "roast" at these things - but that is just another way of saying "punching down" for the most part.

My estimation of Chris Rock is where it always has been: very low because he just isn't funny.
My estimation of Will Smith: pretty much where it has been for ages which is "meh" because he really hasn't made any excellent films lately.

JP - i didn't know about the alopecia. Good for her for takling about it. Her gown was stunning. IMO the best reaction would have been for her to have accepted WSs award on his behalf and made a point about not using events like this to roast people but to build people up.

Yes, I agree it was likely scripted. That's why I think a large part of the blame has to lie with whoever OK-ed that joke in the end.

I'd have said previously I liked Will Smith, if I'd been pushed, no strong opinion either way. But I've found him funny and engaging when I've seen bits on talk shows and the like. I don't know much about Chris Rock.

I can understand why he reacted as he did. This was a 'joke' at an event that has worldwide coverage aimed at a woman who bravely copes with her alopecia. What sort of &$@& would even say that?

I can understand his reaction when Chris Rock is taking the p!ss out of his wife's medical condition in front of millions of people, not saying its right but I can understand it

If my DS did that in school he’d be excluded, possibly expelled.
Yet here we are debating whether or not a grown man was justified in hitting someone because he didn’t like something he said.

Exactly.
I told DH what happened. He said "good for him" (Will Smith)
I said what if DS got into a fight at school? (Very unlikely because he is very passive and a lot smaller than his peers) Would he be excused, or we would think ok because the other party had something about his family?

When they were younger DD used to taunt and provoke DS a lot, and often he would react with violence and hit her. (Tbh she still does taunt him but he has matured) I told both of them off as she was deliberately goading him, but I can't condone him reacting with physical violence. Its not OK for kids and it's not OK for adults.
It wasn't a funny joke but Will Smith could have publicly called him out or even got on stage to confront him verbally, without hitting him.

My first thought.. it was fake.

Second thought, do they not have security at such an event?

Third thought, I can’t quite understand how they gave WS an Oscar after this happened. How interesting to choose to celebrate this.. man.

If he's happy to hit someone in front of a live audience and on TV what would he do behind closed doors?

Silly argument. It suggests he minds people seeing what he did. And he doesn’t. Stop making it in to something it isn’t.

He shouldn’t have hit Rock. It looks to me like it was the words Smith said which had far more of an effect on Rock than the punch.

He was laughing until he saw his wife's face.

Which is also a problem. Smith thought it was funny until he saw his wife upset?

The joke was misogynistic and vile. It was cheap, Hollywood, women only have value for their appearance bullshit.

Chris Rock may have deserved to have been publicly called out for mocking a medical condition.

However, nothing justifies Will Smith’s violent reaction.

A good man wouldn’t have made an offensive, misogynistic joke at the expense of a woman with a distressing health condition. Your bar for “good” is pretty low.

Chris Rock is a comedian.

Comedy, by its very nature, is usually offensive or at the expense of someone. Compared to many jokes I’ve heard, this one was very tame, and almost certainly would have been forgotten about the moment they moved on if it wasn’t for Will Smiths violent outburst.

I lost a child and a joke told by Ricky Gervais devastated me for months. And I still think he should have been allowed to make the joke. I would never in a million years have got up to strike Ricky Gervais, and would have been absolutely mortified if DH had done so. Which he would never have.

Comedy can’t be sanitised, and it’s part of a comedians job to test boundaries and see what works and what doesn’t.

It’s shocking to me that someone could equate telling an off colour joke, to being just as bad as a violent man. Words are not violence. They might hurt but you control your own reaction to them.

Yes, in my opinion Chris Rock was just doing his job as a comedian. He may have told a bad joke. But his actions after being attacked showed that he is a good, non-violent man.

Will Smith may not have said anything misogynistic, but his actions screamed misogyny.

I pay attention to actions, not words.

If my DS did that in school he’d be excluded, possibly expelled.
Yet here we are debating whether or not a grown man was justified in hitting someone because he didn’t like something he said.
They aren't at school, but say they were and the class clown stood on stage in school assembly and started making fun of another child's appearance?

Also WS is no hero here. He was laughing at the joke, this wasn’t stemmed from caring about his wife’s feelings.
Also I find it very strange that he slapped CR? Do people honestly slap others outside of soaps? Very strange…

@ChocolateDeficitDisorder

It was a bit of a mean joke perhaps but people are routinely roasted at ceremonies like this.

Maybe that's the problem. Insults and 'roasting' have become part of formal ceremonies when maybe they should be confined to comedy clubs where the attendees are there to hear it. This is a mixed audience of movie actors and fans - it's not comedy gig.

Gentle teasing has always happened, but comedians being given one of the biggest stages on TV to target anyone they like for whatever reason they like is not the best use of that space. I imagine that WS has watched JP have some very dark moments over her hair loss - to have then smile and nod when a comedian takes cheap shots about it is asking a lot.

He shouldn't have used violence, but maybe it will change things for the future. We teach our children not to use to violence but we also teach them to be kind and thoughtful to others.

Giving CS the green light to personally insult people with disabilities or embarrassing conditions is sending the wrong message just as much as the violent response did.

I agree with this - hopefully it stops because it has been getting worse I think

But also I have to say it completely overshadows the fact that 3 women were hosting it - Amy Schumer comment about 3 women costing the same to host as a man was the type of joke that is ok. This wasnt.

@Fizbosshoes wtf would you allow your dd to taunt her brother? Maybe you should spend more time on that than teaching him not to react.

I thought it looked fake. If it wasn't then Chris Rock was extremely calm about it, it just seemed that everybody was too calm. I have never seen anyone be assaulted and then behave like this afterwards. If it's real then will smith is an utter thug and should be prosecuted

I lost a child and a joke told by Ricky Gervais devastated me for months. And I still think he should have been allowed to make the joke. I would never in a million years have got up to strike Ricky Gervais, and would have been absolutely mortified if DH had done so. Which he would never have.

I’m sorry for your loss.

I very much doubt RG was making a joke directly aimed at you, naming you in the process, in your presence on a world stage. CS personally humiliated a women based on her appearance following a devastating illness. His actions were verbally abusive to her, which makes him not a good man in my view.

WS assaulted CR, not a good man either.

Chris Rock's doubling down with "that was a nice one" after seeing Jada's face after his joke smacks of the misogynistic bully that he is.

Had Smith controlled his anger Rock would have simply looked like the pathetic waste of space he is. Instead he made it about himself and now his Oscar win is tainted, the actual issue with the joke was not addressed, and Chris Rock gets away with being a cunt.

Anyone would even half a brain knows that it was staged.

This is what happened after that stage slap during the commercial break-

@DowningStreetParty

Chris Rock’s thoughtful documentary Good Hair is his take on American black culture and women’s hair. Sadly, he made it after his little daughter said to him that she thought she didn’t have ‘good hair’. So alopecia is a particularly sad and strange thing for him, of all people, to have publicly taken the piss out of a woman for. Will Smith shouldn’t have hit him though obviously. They both look like the sexist idiots that they are. Poor Jada.

That was exactly my thought as well.

The violence though made me feel sick.

@Jellycatspyjamas we will have to agree to disagree then. In my opinion that ‘joke’ in no way justified Chris Rick being physically attacked. I also do not believe that joke was the same as ‘verbal abuse’.