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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think will smith shouldn’t have been allowed to collect his award after hitting Chris Rock

174 replies

LovelyYellowLabrador · 28/03/2022 14:02

Yanbu he should not have been allowed
Yabu they were right or let him

I think he should have been arrested and kicked out
He is a disgrace and a mess

OP posts:
SamphiretheStickerist · 28/03/2022 17:07

@Nicholethejewellery

YANBU, after Noel Clarke was accused of sexual assault BAFTA suspended him. I saw on the BBC today he was falsely accused so they'll probably reinstate him. But if one organisation suspends someone on the strength of allegations then Smith should not have been allowed to collect his award for actually assaulting someone.
No no no no!!!

That is not what happened. Noel Clarke has not been cleared of anything. Twenty plus women remain unanswered as:

the Met has decided the women’s testimonies “would not meet the threshold for a criminal investigation”.

Given his own response at the time

“Some actions affected people in ways I did not intend or realise. I am deeply sorry. I will be seeking help.”

It is crass to think he has been exhonerated! Let alone to use it as some kind of benchmark for excusing firther male violence!

SamphiretheStickerist · 28/03/2022 17:08

Sorry @Nicholethejewellery I appreciate you are reporting what has been said in some papers.

I have re-read your post and can see I went off on one - oops! My apologies! Blush

Badbaddog · 28/03/2022 17:09

It would have been better if he had taken himself out of the room - his wife or agent could have accepted his award in his place, apologising for his behaviour.

He’s let everyone down so badly.

The joke was shite, that guy should also be ashamed of himself.

I hope ceremonies like this move away from ‘roasting’ now - it’s tedious and childish.

GlendaSugarbeanIsJudgingYou · 28/03/2022 17:10

@Sunshinedreaming2022

If someone publicly made fun of my dh or my kids for having a medical condition then I would go up and slap them round the face to. And yes I’m a pacifist.

It wasn’t a punch, or a fight, CR wasn’t “beaten up”, it was just a slap. CR overstepped the mark. WS stuck up for his wife.

We are all cheering on Ukraine for defending their country, well I shall cheer on WS for defending his family.

What?
teaandtoastwithmarmite · 28/03/2022 17:11

No but Chris rock shouldn't have been able to say what he did either

Abhannmor · 28/03/2022 17:16

An international rugby player hits an opponent in the heat of the moment. Red card and banned from several further matches. He doesn't get an award and make a cringe speech post match.

Fairyarmpits · 28/03/2022 17:22

@bellabasset

I'm not defending Will Smith's reaction but I feel it's understandable. This was a show that is being broadcast worldwide so was this a scripted joke or an impromptu one? Who could think it's appropriate to make such a comment on the worldwide stage to a woman with a distressing condition? If you sent Will Smith off then you'd have had to stop the whole thing and send Chris Rock off as well.
^ this
KatherineJaneway · 28/03/2022 17:27

I think everyone was so shocked and just trying to process what happened to actually do anything. He was going to get that Oscar, everyone knew it. It was supposed to be his night.

Let's see what the next few days bring.

Rachwato · 28/03/2022 17:32

It’s not ok to ridicule and embarrass- the impact that aloplcia has on someone’s self esteem / confidence / MH.
Love how fiercely Will supported his family.

Towelseverywhere · 28/03/2022 17:38

@Rachwato

It’s not ok to ridicule and embarrass- the impact that aloplcia has on someone’s self esteem / confidence / MH. Love how fiercely Will supported his family.
I’m not even sure I believe that he was supporting his family. He laughed at the joke when it was told. I think he’s just got anger issues and this became the outlet for them. A man resorting to violence so quickly in the heat of the moment is a frightening thing
VampireMoney · 28/03/2022 17:39

@Rachwato

It’s not ok to ridicule and embarrass- the impact that aloplcia has on someone’s self esteem / confidence / MH. Love how fiercely Will supported his family.
He didn't defend his family, he made it about himself. Look what a big hard man I am stomping up there throwing a slap and then shouting and swearing. He made a fool of himself.
VyeBrator · 28/03/2022 17:40

@Whitney168

He should have been escorted from the room and not let back in. If they want him to have the award so be it, but don't give him the airtime to deliver an acceptance speech.

Completely agree with this, no way he should have been allowed up there for his ramblings.

Another one who agrees with this.
VyeBrator · 28/03/2022 17:41

@Rachwato

It’s not ok to ridicule and embarrass- the impact that aloplcia has on someone’s self esteem / confidence / MH. Love how fiercely Will supported his family.
He didn't support his family. His actions were all about him. It was nothing more than willy waving.
SliceOfCakeCupOfTea · 28/03/2022 17:42

@Bluebluemoon

it was just a slap

Very dangerous and misguided thinking.

Do you not think CR had his "jokes" pre-approved by the academy? He can't just go out there and say any old thing. So he deserves to be hit for reading from autocue?

And jada pinkett is by all accounts an "air your dirty linen in public" kind of person. Bizarre that people are now acting like she is some kind of weak maiden who needs "defending".

I don't believe for one minute that anyone who was involved in the GI Jane "joke" knew she is apparently suffering from alopecia.

Has she actually confirmed she has alopecia or is it just heresay?

@Bluebluemoon

Jada revealed her condition publicly on her Red Table Talk series in 2018. She said it "was terrifying" to deal with when alopecia first started.

www.instagram.com/p/CYB7dMppvjk/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=0bc6b503-0799-46a4-b1c6-f25e7c06faf9

Mrsjayy · 28/03/2022 17:43

I think Will smith was protecting his ego first then maybe his wife after that but his speech was all about his feelings, I think there is stuff going on and will is losing his grip he's been a bit off kilter since the whole open marriage thing .

SickAndTiredAgain · 28/03/2022 17:51

Maybe I’m a conspiracy nut but I can’t get too invested because part of me thinks it was planned anyway. Oscar viewership has been declining constantly and now everyone’s talking about it.

I disagree. This is Smith’s first Oscar, and it’s tainted - every article is focused on him hitting Rock, not him winning. If he was just a guest, not a nominee, I’d be more persuadable that it was staged but not in these circumstances.

Williamshatnershorses · 28/03/2022 17:53

The best response would have been to wait for his award and then use his speech to denounce just how shitty this ‘roast’ trend is and that it needs to change. That would have been better than the “I am a protector - God made me do it” shit that he did come out with.

And all those saying Chris Rock deserved it - he didn’t pull that joke out of anywhere, it would have been scripted, checked and approved. All the people at the rehearsal will have heard it. That doesn’t make it right of course but it’s what is expected at ceremonies like this now (see a rebel Wilson at the BAFTAs for example) and it sucks.

VyeBrator · 28/03/2022 17:54

@Wintersbone

He got in one little fight and his mom got mad.....
One of the most famous lines in a song and you fucked it right up 🤣
ChicCroissant · 28/03/2022 17:57

The Academy didn't handle it well, they've left themselves wide open to criticism by not taking action against Smith at the time.

A tweet claiming they don't condone violence doesn't really match their actions when the perp was back on the stage giving a winner's speech less than an hour after slapping the host.

I8toys · 28/03/2022 17:57

He's going down the Kanye route of self explosion. You can't go around hitting comedians because you don't like what they are saying. But well done to the other winners - Jessica Chastain, Troy Kotsur and Kenneth B especially, completely overshadowed by this egomaniac. If Bendy Cumberbitch had won we wouldn't have had this!

JMKid · 28/03/2022 18:00

I think it's fake, look at the slap in slow mo, clearly an acting slap!!

Afterallsbeensaidanddone · 28/03/2022 18:08

He laughed at the joke when it was told.

Social laughter because he wasn't the one hurt I think. The fact that he didn't feel personally slighted or miffed by it but reacted when he glanced over and saw his wife's face points to a reaction on her behalf rather than a personal anger response. That can be harder to get a hold of because it's coming from a good place however wrongly expressed.

I don't for one moment think it's a set up because the Academy is all about everything going perfectly and being venerable. This is not a good day for them.

BiBabbles · 28/03/2022 18:09

I've read different things on the joke from Chris Rock going off script because he has a beef with the Smiths to it had been in an early version of the script but he was told to cut it and then he brought it back to yes, it was scripted, checked, and approved as it's meant to be. I'm not sure we'll ever get much clarity on it. I do hope it will start a shift away from ceremonies full of roasting.

I'm not sure what I think they should have done, I think others have given a lot of good examples, but if they were going to react to Will Smith's behaviour, then during the event was the time to do it. The calls for the Academy to punish Will Smith afterwards are only going to draw out comparisons to other actors who've been violent who the Academy has done nothing to. You can't allow a standing ovation one night for him after that and then say 'oh, but that was wrong, so...' without the massive hypocrisy showing. It might spark off some changes for the future, but I don't expect it. I do expect if they try to only do something to Will Smith now, it's going to be even more of a clusterfuck than their tweet.

Towelseverywhere · 28/03/2022 18:11

Of course it wasn’t fake. Look at cr’s reactions, WS’s speech, the Oscar’s comments. No one on their right mind would
Pull this as a stunt. Will smith may be a lot of things but he’s not that stupid

Thebig3 · 28/03/2022 18:15

If a member of the public had got into that room and got on stage and slapped Chris rock there would be an absolute uproar from the academy.....Will Smith is purely getting away with it because of how famous he is.

Jokes are made all the time that offend people, I've heard jokes about rape, dead babies and other absolutely awful things. I don't, however, hit someone because it offends me and my husband wouldn't smack someone on my behalf because of it. There is absolutely no excuse to hit someone for this at all.