By Mecca Fowler
Editor’s note: The opinions expressed here are those of the authors. View more opinion on ScoonTV.
On Sunday, March 27, many American households settled in to watch the 2022 Oscars. But what started as a light-hearted event quickly turned into a drama no one saw coming.
Everything about the Chris Rock and Will Smith altercation at the Oscars felt staged or misplaced. It was entirely too weird for television, for one thing. No one knows for sure whether the entire incident was premeditated or some publicity stunt, but many people felt the heavy awkwardness and cringe in our spirits when it happened.
Chris was a presenter that night. As he was introducing an award for the best documentary category, he made a snappy joke about Jada Pinkett-Smith playing G.I. Jane 2. The joke was about her bald head. When the cameras cut to Pinkett-Smith’s reaction to the joke, Will laughed while Jada rolled her eyes, visibly annoyed. Pinkett-Smith has been on record stating that she suffers from alopecia, a common condition that includes sudden hair loss. There is no evidence on whether Rock knew about her condition ahead of the joke.
Moments later, Will walked to Rock, slapped him, and walked away smiling about it. Rock, caught off guard, did his best to smooth over what he just experienced. When Smith got back to his seat, he shouted several expletives about how Rock needed to keep his wife’s name out of his mouth.
What Rock said did not seem especially vile or malicious, so it was surreal for a usually mild-mannered and likable celebrity to assault him over it. The joke did not warrant such a response. It was apparent in the moment that this had less to do with the joke itself, and more about Smith’s ego.
Later during the ceremony, when Smith was awarded an Oscar, he sobbed about winning the award and apologized to the Academy for what had taken place. Yet, he didn’t apologize to Rock.
Afterwards, social media flew into a storm and both comedians received mixed reception. Some people thought Rock was out of line for making the joke while others decried Smith’s physical assault. The Oscars Twitter account went on to “condemn violence” but still never escorted Smith out and allowed him to still receive his Oscar.
Clearly, the people who defended Smith and praised him are among the worst hypocrites. Some have stated how Smith was right for defending his wife as if his wife hadn’t publicly humiliated and emasculated him on several occasions. From always fawning over late rapper Tupac Shakur, to airing out her affair with singer August Alsina, it seems the love is very one-sided.
The Smiths have been on record about their open relationship, so it’s odd that a man open to sharing his wife with others would suddenly seem so possessive now. Especially because he was caught on camera initially laughing at the same joke. The best possible explanation for Smith attacking Rock over a harmless joke is that it was misdirected, built-up anger for his family being the butt of jokes this past year.
As early as two weeks ago, actress Rebel Wilson poked fun at their union with no major backlash.
In response to Smith winning the Leading Actor prize for his role in King William, Wilson said, “I thought his best performance over the past year was being OK with all his wife’s boyfriends.” Smith responded by saying that there has never been any infidelity in his relationship, a statement he has been adamant about throughout the years.
Both Will and Jada seem very insecure for two people who claim to be okay with everything going on in their household. Will claims to be fine with his marriage being open and the August Alsina incident but he keeps feeling the need to defend their relationship. Jada claimed to not care what people had to say about her shaved head, but she clearly feels a way if it is joked about.
They continuously bring the public into their homes and invite us into their business whether it’s on the Red Table Talk or giving information in interviews. If they did not want people to publicly comment on them, they should consider not giving us the ammo to do so.
This family has a lot that they need to work on so that the next time they are feeling insecure they can respond in a productive manner.
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