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.

I'm not 100% sure it still isn't a stunt. That they are showcasing that if a black man makes one mistake people will focus on that and turn a blind eye to all the hard work and dedication, his many positive achievements that have finally been recognised by an Oscar. I wouldn't put it past them to do this.

If however it isn't a stunt then whilst violence isn't the answer I can understand why he did it. There is a fine line in comedy and using physical characteristics, disabilities or autoimmune conditions as a vutt of jokes is really shit. Chris Rock is a very crass comedian and entirely up his own bum. I'd have preferred it had Will Smith reigned himself in and then insulted him with his words. It's a shame that a second of madness will tar what should have been the best night of his career

*butt even.

Because I think it is dangerous and just plain wrong to try to pretend that there is no difference in the degree of things
How is this relevant to what happened at the Oscar?

Unless trying to justify it wasnt that bad because the violence was towards a man rather than a woman?

Or using this event to make it all about violence towards females?

@cherrysthename I was thinking that, one of my children has alopecia and Jada either covers up or doesn't have the tell-tale signs of bald patches/patchy regrowth which you can't really cover even if you shave it (her hair line and coverage looks complete)- so either she covers the patches with a colour? or they are not that bad at the moment. Or perhaps she meant thinning?

I think she's done a great thing by shaving it off, looks fab as well, her 'alopecia' look is extremely stylish, in fact, i didn't actually know she had alopecia until this incident, I just assumed that as a stunner, she'd gone for a close shave similar to other women, perhaps to avoid going grey as well.

My child in the end wears a scarf, others have worn hats or wigs- half the audience will have had a hair-piece, wig or something to make themselves look better (Kate Middleton wears them all the time,Tina Turner, Dolly Parton have always worn them to perform)so presumably Jada could have just plopped a wig on like millions of women around the world if she didn't want to look bald.She's chosen a stylish bald look to signify her confidence about her alopecia and her good looks and so probably didn't need Will to attack someone for making a GI joke, esp as GI Jane was actually attractive.

If CR had joked directly about alopecia, it would have been really offensive, perhaps like me he just assumed this was a style choice...

Genuinely enjoying all the reactions here. I personally don't see the need to weigh in on the joke itself, I don't see why he couldn't control himself in that situation. His wife and family weren't in mortal danger. He was one of the most powerful people in the room.

He also made an absolute mockery of his claim in the speech - "I want to be a vessel for love" -

@vivainsomnia

Because I think it is dangerous and just plain wrong to try to pretend that there is no difference in the degree of things How is this relevant to what happened at the Oscar?

Unless trying to justify it wasnt that bad because the violence was towards a man rather than a woman?

Or using this event to make it all about violence towards females?

I was answering specific points that were asked of me (1) how would you feel if it were a man hitting a female and (2) why do you need to differentiate between things that are bad.

If you don't want me to answer points, then don't ask them.

Presenters at these events have become increasingly vile so it was only a matter of time before something like this happened.

Aside from what he did, what he said was just . The whole thing was just chest beating and not at all helpful to any ‘defence’ of J.

@OMG12

I don’t blame Will Smith at all. Tbf, as unpalatable as it is in modern society, some people will only ever learn by being punched in the mouth. You can try and be the bigger person, turn the other cheek, use a verbal admonishing all you like, some people would just see this as weakness and carry on with their shitty behaviour. I highly suspect CR is that type of person.

Your view isn't going to be popular but I agree with you. On a night out with my friend going through chemo and having a shaved head I overheard two blokes saying 'I don't fancy yours much' and pointing at my friend. I verbally laid in to them and it was all I could do to not punch him in the mouth. But I hope one day he crosses a Will Smith to teach him a lesson. The world's full of pricks.

@notanothertakeaway

The joke was shit. Personal attacks on individual's appearance is never ok

Ironically, WS turned it into a far bigger story. I didn't know his wife's name, or that she has alopecia

Yes but it's all about him now isn't it. Even his speech was "poor me".

Agree that Jada still looks fantastic. She has more dignity than both those men.

The joke was unfunny, mean and lazy, that doesn't give Will a right to put his hands on Chris though.

Weren't there so many bald Uncle Phil jokes in The Fresh Prince of Bel Air? Has Will Smith never taken aim at anyone in his career? I think he let himself down. I'm sure Jada could object and look after herself in a more appropriate way.

I think that maybe the men who are paid vast amounts to 'entertain' or 'be funny' might be slightly less likely to abuse women for shits and giggles as a result of Chris Rock getting a slap.

The worst thing about the whole thing in my opinion is that it takes a man to react like that for anybody to accept that maybe women - and black women in particular - are not there to serve as fodder for misogynistic 'jokes' and comments about their appearance and bodies.

@ToiletPoster

You can't judge anyones experience of illness upon your own.

If that's the case, you definitely can't evaluate someone's experience of illness based your imaginary version of it, so what was the actual point you were trying to make?

I said a man naturally balding isn't the same as alopecia, so the 2 cannot be compared. I'm not judging anything, I was asking why people are equating these 3 very different things.

I wasn't sure where I stood on this. Now having seen the footage of WS partying at the after parties and generally carrying on as normal I've decided what he did was out and out wrong. Regardless of the crassness of the joke (it was fairly cruel but I've seen much much worse at award ceremonies), who in any other setting gets to a) assault someone in public b) swear aggressively on live TV without consequences? The whole incident is full of threat and aggression, its very unsettling to watch and completely out of kilter with with setting. I just think it was hugely aggressive, in a world where we already have far too much. That he felt secure/justified enough to celebrate afterwards shows a massive lack of judgement.

Neither. CR wasn’t just reading from a script so he is not innocent but neither is WS.

@ENoeuf

Aside from what he did, what he said was just . The whole thing was just chest beating and not at all helpful to any ‘defence’ of J.

Agree. If he'd behaved himself, nobody would even remember that 'joke' five minutes later. Now, people will be talking about it for years to come.

I'm genuinely surprised at how much support for Will Smith's actions there is!
The joke was crap. At this type of event, all jokes are crap, to be fair. It was poorly judged. Though, by no means the most poorly judged joke at one of these events.
Wills reaction is disgraceful.
How is it ok to assault someone on live tv for saying something you don't like or agree with?
You can see the pure anger in his face as he shouts at Rock after the slap, that is not a man in control of his temper.
What happens at the local comedy club now if someone doesn't like the comedian's routine? Is it ok for them to storm the stage and attack the performer?

I'm confused as to why the police won't get involved unless Rock files a report. They've seen it happen, surely they can look into it without a report from the victim?

It was said in literally seconds and noone would of picked up on it afterwards. It could be he didn't know about her condition. Her eyeroll was her response and that should of been it.

Absolutely no need for Will to do what he did and he should of been escorted off the premises, irrespective if he won an oscar.

@ididntevennotice
Tbh, I thought you were a different poster. My bad. I didn't reply to your initial post because there wasn't really any point.

Male pattern baldness is literally a subset of alopecia (which is just balding, for whatever reason). An alternative name is alopecia androgenetica.

Male balding isn't "natural" (I'm sort of assuming what you mean here because I don't see how any biological function exists outside of nature), is not something that you recover from over time and it causes plenty of distress.

I have a close friend in his early 30s who started balding noticeably in his early 20s and has spent literally thousands attempting to mitigate the effects.

My point about anything being anything to anyone is that he is an outlier amongst the balding men I know. Similarly a previous poster highlighted a scenario in which temporary hair loss can lead to destitution and suicide. I have no doubt that that CAN happen, I just wouldn't say it was a common outcome.

The joke was crap.

The joke wasn’t ‘crap’. It was cruel.

He wanted the entire auditorium, plus the millions of people watching around the world, to laugh at a women for a medical condition she has.

Will Smith should not have punched Chris Rock.

But that joke was way, way, way beyond ‘crap’.

And hopefully it make CR think twice about doing similar again.

There’s something about this whole incident that reeks of elaborate stunt to raise the profile of all involved. CR didn’t carry it as well as he could, you’d be more outraged than that surely? Then Will’s speech was so measured, despite the tears, and the support from Denzel, the reference to Mr W. I’m not buying a second of it.

@NutellaEllaElla

I don't understand the GI Jane joke

She's bald with alopecia and GI Jane had a shaved head. It was a rubbish joke that should have killed Chris Rock's act dead. They are both looking out of touch and crazed.

There’s something about this whole incident that reeks of elaborate stunt to raise the profile of all involved.

They are very, very rich and famous. Why would they need this type of publicity when none of them covered themselves in glory? I can't see why on earth they would do this on purpose. The smile on both men's faces in the seconds after the slap was very odd mind you but it would be insane to plan this. Particularly on the biggest night of Will's career where he would have had the spotlight regardless. Such a shame he let himself down like that. I found the aggressive tone of his voice more unnerving than the smack. I grew up in a fairly tough area and witnessed lots of fighting/violence so I'm not easily shocked but I found his level of thuggery quite unsettling.

He'll pay for his actions, silly temper ruined a very special night.