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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

803 replies

Jaggerdagger · 28/03/2022 07:28

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.

OP posts:
ItsMsAtomicBobToYou · 29/03/2022 15:36

@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.
And yet, there was her husband, laughing along with it. Until he realised she wasn't finding it funny.

Seems like his reaction was more about getting caught out being an arsehole than "defending" his wife.

Comedycook · 29/03/2022 15:38

I've had a long think about this. And I've come to the conclusion that I'm on Will Smith's side...yeah yeah we can't condone violence blah blah blah....but I found it incredibly uncomfortable to watch a black woman being mocked for her hair and that's before you consider the alopecia. When you consider all the social/cultural issues around black hair...it just seemed really off to me to publicly mock a woman in that way.

Notbeinfunnehbut · 29/03/2022 17:31

Will has been in an emotionally abusive relationship for a long time,

Yes they both cheat in their open marriage,(who instigated Hmm)
but it is only her who takes great delight in humiliating him with graphic detail for the world to see,
It is only her who slept with an 18 year old who was one of sons friends?
The effect that must have had on Jaden?
She enjoys the humiliation she reaps upon her family and is deeply toxic,
A man who behaved similar to his wife would be labelled an absolute scumbag and worse, he’s not the man he would be proud of Right now, I hope he finds the strength to leave her and do some serious reflection. That slap was only a small part about Chris Rock in my opinion.

Toomuchtrouble4me · 29/03/2022 17:53

@CallMeDaddy58

The joke was shit but in terms of how offensive it was…it really wasn’t that bad. He didn’t say Jada look bad, ugly or weird. He said she could play GI Jane… that’s literally it. Demi Moore looked fucking amazing in GI Jane. I completely understand not wanting attention drawn to her condition but that actual content of the joke? Really not terrible at all. Rock said much more offensive things about other actors appearances & about things they can’t change eg Timothy’s face.
I really don't think you'd say that if you had alopecia. Its utterly devastating and humiliating. Bald women are not socially acceptable and are laughed at and he made fun of her disease on TV. Would it funny if she were suffering hairless due to Chemo, it was mocking her disease and to say the joke about her disease wasn't that bad is like saying someone can be a little bit racist. It was wrong. The odd element is that Will laughed, and then turned, what went on in between?
Toomuchtrouble4me · 29/03/2022 17:59

@LondonWolf

What’s black on black crime? Every narrative in society is set up to make the actions of black people worse than other races. Until we also talk about white on white crime then please just don’t ask ridiculous questions like that.

Thank you for engaging with me. I don't believe my questions are ridiculous. They're only "ridiculous" to you because they offer a viewpoint/opinion you personally don't like and which doesn't align with your beliefs around race. And they beliefs not facts. I am happy to apologise if my terminology is incorrect but I believe I was clear enough and I know that is the terminology used when discussing these matters whether you personally like that or not. For myself crime is crime, violent attacks are violent attacks and I don't care what race a person is.

Why is this a race issue? I hadn't thought about race for one moment, just two men and a woman at the centre of this issue. I can't see why its anything to do with race, and if they had of been white/white or black/white or whatever, how can we possibly know if it would have been different. This just isn't about race.
PaddlingLikeADuck · 29/03/2022 18:08

I usually like Will Smith but when I watched the video I was gob smacked (no pun intended).

What a really twatty thing to do.

The violence and then the swearing - it was just embarrassing.

Who on earth does he think he is?!

CookPassBabtridge · 29/03/2022 18:19

Defo should have called him out on it, but the angry shouting would have been enough.

Jedsnewstar · 29/03/2022 18:21

between a rock and a hard place

Hadenoughofthisbullshit · 29/03/2022 18:26

At first I thought both were idiots, don’t get me wrong the joke was bad, and Chris has joked about Jada before too so he seems to have a weird problem with her.

But seeing the Australian footage, with him standing there all alone, looking around thinking “why is no-one helping me” is really quite sad.

I wonder if this harks back to when the Smiths and Spike Lee boycotted because there were no black nominees? Chris Rock was asked to turn down the hosting job, refused and made jokes about will only boycotting because he hadn’t been nominated for a film that was clearly Oscar bait and said that Jada wouldn’t have been invited anyway.

I can see why neither Smith likes Chris Rock very much.

Can someone explain to me if the Smith’s are in an open relationship and Will has cheated too why is Jada the only one making a fool of Will? Genuine question; I don’t watch that weird red table thing they do?

Hadenoughofthisbullshit · 29/03/2022 18:29

The odd element is that Will laughed, and then turned, what went on in between?

Jada rolled her eyes, I’ve seen people say she must’ve said something etc, but that is literally all she did.

Bluetissue · 29/03/2022 18:50

Will Smith actually could not have won in this situation. Jada Smith (his wife) is losing her hair and confidence like so many of us due to menopause and poking fun of that should be firmly slapped down. The unobtainable Hollywood standard women are held to is sad and it was great he stood up and said that’s not ok. Yes he played into the white stereotype of ‘aggressive angry black man’ but I don’t think that compares to the mental damage that his wife suffered. As far as his swearing I’m shocked at some of the mums on here mentioning that as some of the usernames on mumsnet have very colourful language. Why don’t you just say what you’re really thinking instead of hiding behind ‘properness’. I mean for goodness sake Prince Andrew is a peadophile and you all are still curtsying to him. Let’s be real feminists like Will Smith and be disgusted when a woman is shamed when she does not meet the magazine standard.

anotherotherone · 29/03/2022 18:51

It sounds like a very toxic relationship they have. Who could be bothered with all that? I wonder if WS is having some form of a breakdown in plain sight? I mean, one minute he’s laughing at the ‘joke;’ then he slaps the guy; then he’s crying and doing a ‘woe-is-us” speech while collecting an Oscar; and then he’s at a party dancing!

What is clear is that he has an ego bigger than the planet - as does JS.

I could kind of understand if they were in a ‘non stage’ environment and he got triggered enough by something a man just standing within arms reach said about his wife. These things happen and he wouldn’t be the first or the last the strike out. But it’s very different to take the decision to walk across a whole stage, in front of all your peers and before you get an award and in full view of millions to slap someone. He could have just done what they all do and take to social media. Really peculiar.

Merrymouse · 29/03/2022 19:16

I mean for goodness sake Prince Andrew is a peadophile and you all are still curtsying to him.

Really, really not true.

Merrymouse · 29/03/2022 19:17

The curtsying, I mean.

LondonWolf · 29/03/2022 20:23

Why is this a race issue? I hadn't thought about race for one moment, just two men and a woman at the centre of this issue. I can't see why its anything to do with race, and if they had of been white/white or black/white or whatever, how can we possibly know if it would have been different. This just isn't about race.

That post of mine is in response to another poster who has made it a race issue multiple times on this thread. It's good you didn't see race when considering this incident but there's many that did and some who would even tell you that it's your white privilege which allows you to not see the race element.

ScribblingPixie · 29/03/2022 23:49

I reckon if someone did that to Ricky Gervais he'd press charges. I wouldn't see him letting it go at all.

ScreamingMeMe · 30/03/2022 07:27

@Hadenoughofthisbullshit

The odd element is that Will laughed, and then turned, what went on in between?

Jada rolled her eyes, I’ve seen people say she must’ve said something etc, but that is literally all she did.

I think it took a while for the penny to drop about what the joke was actually about.

Of course, some people have to believe that a woman was the one behind it. Same as it ever was Hmm

ScreamingMeMe · 30/03/2022 07:29

Let’s be real feminists like Will Smith and be disgusted when a woman is shamed when she does not meet the magazine standard.

Plenty of people have expressed their sympathy for Jada in this thread.

Feminists don't generally go about slapping people: they're pretty much anti violence.

PaddlingLikeADuck · 30/03/2022 07:31

That post of mine is in response to another poster who has made it a race issue multiple times on this thread. It's good you didn't see race when considering this incident but there's many that did and some who would even tell you that it's your white privilege which allows you to not see the race element.

What is the race element?

They both happen to be black, just as they could both just as easily be white.

StrawberryStarfish · 30/03/2022 07:32

@ScribblingPixie

I reckon if someone did that to Ricky Gervais he'd press charges. I wouldn't see him letting it go at all.
100% he would have pressed charges, as Chris Rock should have done.

Ricky Gervais is actually trending on Twitter right now because of all this Will Smith business, he’s done a mock up of the types of jokes he would have said had he been hosting the Oscar’s …

“It’s brilliant to see so much diversity here tonight, we have people from all walks of life, everyone is represented … except poor people, fuck them!”

“Plastic surgeons must have been busy lately, I see a lot of new faces in the room”

“To everyone watching at home, just think … your entire years wages still wouldn’t cover the cost of the goody bags these guys have received tonight, it’s so inspiring!” 😂😂

I’ve paraphrased but that’s the gist of it.

PaddlingLikeADuck · 30/03/2022 07:35

strawberrystardust - Ricky Gervais is hilarious!

StrawberryStarfish · 30/03/2022 07:57

@PaddlingLikeADuck

strawberrystardust - Ricky Gervais is hilarious!
He is, and I think the reason he gets away with it is because he’s simply saying what the rest of us are thinking and the a-listers know he’s right 😂
Kendodd · 30/03/2022 08:55

Let’s be real feminists like Will Smith and be disgusted when a woman is shamed when she does not meet the magazine standard.

Is this a joke?
Its feminist to support Male violence now?
I don't need a man getting violent to 'defend' me from bad jokes thanks.

StrawberryStarfish · 30/03/2022 08:56

Jim Carey speaks a lot of sense in his reaction to it. You can find the video on Twitter - I don’t know how to link it

MarshaBradyo · 30/03/2022 09:10

I haven’t really seen much of Ricky G for a while but those are much better