It appeared to be a stunt, a dramatization of sorts. It happened in Hollywood and involved two of Hollywood’s finest comedian/actors during Oscars’ 94th Academy Award this past weekend. In Hollywood, anything can happen, everything sells and makes news. So we thought it was one of those. Until the Oscars management provided a statement that what happened was not staged nor was it a part of the Oscars night script.
Chris Rock and Will Smith are both renowned comedians/actors. Chris said something about Will’s wife, Jada, referring to GI Jane. The next thing we saw was Will walking up the stage and whoops Chris across the face. At first, I thought “oh, he didn’t touch him, that’s part of the script.” You know, kinda like a wrestling match which we all think is staged. My daughter said “Mom, no he just did.” I bursted into several foreign languages all at once. What the ____!
Did you see it, too!
Did you watch it live or later or heard about it? What are your thoughts on it?
Shortly after the social media started buzzing. And the question was “did it really happen?”
The shameful incident (all round) divided many quarters. The incident can be reviewed from a professional and ethical angle. We might add the family and spiritual angles, too.
My Take
Personally, Will Smith was wrong. His act should be condemned. If he (or Jada) felt that Chris Rock was out of line with his intro (and/or banter at her expense), there are other more gentlemanly and professional manner to have handled it. Brothers don’t treat brothers like that.
It was an attack of violence. Since when did we (adults) stop using our words?
Can you imagine what could have happened if Chris retaliated rather than just take it, smiled, continued with the program, and left immediately after? 🤔. Chris, in my opinion, was the bigger man.
The Oscars have stated that they do not condone any act of violence, are officially reviewing the incident, and will let us know their findings. I can’t wait.
Where do we go from here? Is the Oscars going to be safe going forward or the actors/actresses are now going to attend with a troop of bodyguards to prevent such from happening to them? The Oscars findings will tell.
ThinkTalk 
Thanks Sean … I totally agree with your analysis of the incident. We also heard that the said script was not Chris’s, but was handed to him; something Will ought to know.
Can’t wait to hear the decision of the formal review though Will has now resigned from the Academy. Should be interesting. Thanks again for your time – reading and commenting.
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This incident popped up on my feed as soon as it happened. So, I watched it. Of course, it then popped up on news feeds all day because the “Oscars” finally had something interesting happen. I have ignored all the other social media commentary around it.
My initial thoughts were that Will was way out of line. It is straight up assault. Also, it is in the workplace. Whether he was at an event by invitation or not, does not preclude him from what is required in terms of correct behaviour. The standard for a celebrity, as a public figure, is also much higher.
On the matter of whether Chris was out of line re his comments, well I thought they were in keeping with what hosts have said in other years. It does raise the point of where do we draw the line, though. Such things have become lost in today’s world of white noise regarding what is now considered right or wrong. And, yes, Chris was the bigger person despite what was said by him. Perhaps he should not have made the joke. But did it warrant a slap – no.
Apart from the rules that the Oscars have in place re behaviour and the like, which they must follow, Will is a professional. Did his apology cut it at the time? No, it did not. He tried to justify his actions based on emotion. Some news sources tried to bring comments by Denzel Washington to Will into it as to why he felt justified in his actions. I’m not convinced this is sufficient mitigation.
A proper review is required. However, because it was so public, it’s doubtful whether a review will be unbiased one way or the other. An independent party will need to conduct it. Will has come out and issued a further apology. Such apologies should not be done on Instagram either, although I realise many see social media as an acceptable form of communication re such things – it is not, in my view. Even if Chris accepts Will’s apology, the review must go ahead. Will can present his case there.
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