Comedian Chris Rock was about to give award for one of the winners. As usual he was making some jovial remarks.
The winner of this year for Best Actor Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith were in the audience. Jada has a disease called “alopecia areata”. This disease makes her lose all her head hair.
Award presenter Comedian Chris Rock started to make an insensitive joke about Jada. He said:
"Jada, I love you— 'G.I. Jane 2', can't wait to see it,"
(Side bar: There was a movie in 1997 called G.I. Jane starring Demi Moore. In the movie, Demi Moore was the first woman to go through the arduous Navy Seal training. During the training, she showed more grit than her male counterparts. In an effort to solidify her status as a Navy Seal, she shaved her head and become the symbol of G.I. Jane.)
Jada lost her hair because of this disease alopecia areata. Will Smith lost his cool when Chris Rock made fun of his wife’s disease. He went up to the stadium and slapped Chris Rock. This was witnessed live by millions of people around the world.
Now there is a debate going on in social media and news papers whether what Will Smith did was right or wrong.
I fully support Will Smith. At least he was a nice guy and stopped with one slap. If I were in his place, I would have given Chris Rock harsher punishment. Husband should not keep quiet when a stranger publicly humiliates the wife (for her disease) in front of the world audience.
What do you think? Was Will Smith right?
Interesting social media is ablaze with this incident discussion my take on it .... I think he shouldn't have made fun of her because of the disease.... if he made fun of something else it was ok
ReplyDeleteNow I spoke with a couple of my frds and their take is .... he is a comedian he is meant to crack jokes on everyone..... and Will Smith could have handled it differently and maybe take it to the organizers or Chris Rock .... and asked for a public Apology..... hitting was not the answer...
And I kinda get that thought process also
Thanks for your comments Dee. I am getting both for and against my opinion from my non-commenting silent readers.
DeleteMr. K. Parthasarathi wrote the following comment:
ReplyDeleteThat was an insensitive remark.Even jokes have limits.However,It was not proper for Will Smith to go to the stage to slap. He could have declined to receive the award unless the comedian apologized in public.
Thanks for your comments Mr. KP.
DeleteI didn't know that Academy awards ceremony just happened. I do, now.
ReplyDeleteDestination Infinity
Thanks for your comments Rajesh.
DeleteIf I were to be in his place, I would have done the same thing instantly. Will Smith had all the time in the world walking upto the stage. He himself laughed at the joke first and reacted later I think he could have given a speech which would have made the anchor feel ashamed of himself and fall at Jada's feet
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Gowri. I think Chris Rock has some personal issue with Jada. He made fun of her during 2016 Oscar Award ceremonies.
DeleteI saw this news roaming around . Yet to see what’s it all about
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Shilpa.
DeleteI don't like stand up comedians at all so I fully support Will Smith.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Rohitha.
DeleteI would say, both were wrong. It is outright rude to make fun of a person especially when she is suffering from an illness. Smith's reaction was spontaneous, but considering place he could have restrained himself from being violent. By the way where was the security and the police? Will they allow some one to walk away if this was at another place/time.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Haddock. Long time no see. Hope you are doing well.
DeleteChris Rock did not want to give a police complaint.
Chris Rock compared her to Semi Moore shaving the hair. He didn't say much about the disease. Will Smith must have handled it lightly by showing some hand gesture apposing his joke. Getting on stage and slapping Chris Rock was way too much. Do you think he would have slapped if it was Rock Dwayne Johnson?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Coach. Rock Dwayne Johnson is a gentleman. He won't stoop too low to make fun of somebody's illness.
DeleteI initially thought that it was part of a prepared skit. Then I realised it was for real.
ReplyDeleteMy view is different. I don't like even conflicts and confrontation, definitely not violence of any sort. However, there are reasons perpetrators of violence put forward to justify their actions. (And usually, they apologise after that.)
Through that episode, both Chris Rock and Will Smith showed a side of their personality. That's all.
I have no opinion on whether Chris and Will were right or wrong.
My view is that I wouldn't have done such a thing in such a situation.
Thanks for your comments Pradeep.
DeleteI saw an image where will Smith and Chris and jada were laughing too after the slap..so am not sure if everything is engineered.! Am not sure if u remember me...saw u on a to z blogs and instantly recognised. I haven't been blogging or reading much. Just back after ages http://afshan-shaik.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Afshan. And, welcome back. Long time no see. I very well remember you and your interesting blog posts. I am glad you are back in the blogging world. Thank you very much.
DeleteA friend from Hollywood watched the video dozens of times and is fairly certain it was fake. Insulting someone's wife publicly used to always be cause for offense.
ReplyDeleteGrave
Thanks for your comments Steve. And, welcome to my blog.
DeleteSteve, please visit here as often as possible. Thanks.
People differ in their reaction. Some are missiles to burst out while some will use their brains to practice tolerance. Nice write-up,SG.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Sarala.
Delete