I will be writing a longer piece tomorrow about the Oscars but I wanted to tap out a few words about what it was like to be sitting in the theater when something off-script like this happens. The Oscars felt a little “off” the whole night. It was hard to explain what it was exactly. Maybe it’s the two years of lockdown. Maybe it’s the invasion of Ukraine. Maybe it’s that the country has so completely changed in the past few years. Maybe because the Oscars are changing, or the film industry is changing. Either way, something felt kind of “off” even before Will Smith smacked Chris Rock across the face for presumably insulting his wife Jada. The odd thing is that Smith can be seen laughing before it cuts back to Rock. So what made him suddenly decide, on live television, to walk up to the stage and hit one of the presenters?
It was so bizarre, people thought it had to be fake. But it was immediately clear from Rock’s expression and from Smith saying “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth” on LIVE TELEVISION that we’d just witnessed something very real.
The entire Dolby Theater went completely quiet. No one knew what to do next, and no one knew what was going to happen next. They had to continue the show, obviously, and they did. But that’s isn’t something you can easily shake. It just added to the surreal nature of the show to begin with. It was unsettling and uncomfortable. I don’t know if anyone was able to shake it off. I certainly wasn’t.
The only thing that matched it was Will Smith’s acceptance speech, which was highly emotional, raw, and unpredictable. We did not know if we were watching someone completely break down on camera, but the show had to go on. He had to accept his Oscar and that was that. Probably the strangest thing about all of it was that part of it — that it’s a live show, so it must go on.
The crowd continued to cheer as the other awards were read, including the final award of the night. But this is the only thing people will remember from the 94th Oscars.
Anyway, here is the full video. I will give a full report of the Oscars tomorrow. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
You are right,Sasha – the entire theater went completely quiet once everyone realized it wasn’t a joke. Truly stunning to witness that and unfathomable to comprehend why Smith would sabotage himself on the biggest night on his life. Something more must be going on. I don’t buy his excuse that he did it because he loves his wife so much. That’s an excuse abusive people use for their bad behavior. And you certainly didn’t see the husband of Kentaji Brown Jackson slapping Lindsay Graham in the face for going after his wife in truly deplorable ways.
Will, other than your stupidity, I’m happy you won Best Actor because you deserved it for playing King Richard Williams. Chris Rock joke about your wife was not acceptable but you really could have handled it better. NO MATTER WHAT, most of us including myself still LOVES YOU. It will die down but it’s gonna take time. I would tell you to keep a low profile for right now. 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
You don’t speak for me when you say, “most of us…still loves you.” I don’t. Never have, never will. And the slap was simply the sign of a deeply disturbed person. I hope the Academy revokes his Oscar.
Why the HELL did you respond then?????? You don’t love him fine but there was NO need for you to respond if you didn’t like my post
If his Oscar is revoked then BLM will start back up and it will cry racism there and I would cry racism too.
Why will BLM rise up if Will Smith’s Oscar is revoked? Will Smith’s “plight”, if you can even call it that, is hardly comparable with the pain and suffering of George Floyd and his family, and every black man who paid for the state of racial profiling and discrimination in USA with their dear lives. It’s false equivalence to a tragic degree. One can hardly dispute the fact that Will Smith reaped what he sowed. And he hit another black man in the face on national television. Racism has nothing to do with it. Idiocy does.
You’re NOT black so you wouldn’t understand………………….
I’m Asian. And gay. Do not presume to tell me what I understand or don’t understand about racial discrimination or any kind of discrimination in this world.
Like I said, YOU WOULDN’T UNDERSTAND.
I’m gay too.
Good. Then we both understand what it means to be the subject of hate.
And let’s END it. I don’t know why you commented in the first place!
Because you said I DON’T UNDERSTAND in caps. That’s why.
Your FIRST comment…………..
Oh. If you comment in a comment section expecting no one to comment right back at you, then maybe next time, don’t comment in a comment section where people are bound to comment and speak their minds the way you speak yours.
And here is me speaking my mind: END IT. We’re done chatting.
LOL Black Lives Matter is a political effort to protect Black people FROM violence — it’s literally in the name — not a celebration of famous Black people to commit violence to other famous Black people with impunity. Take about making a mockery of a righteous cause.
Just for that, I hope they do strip away Smith’s Oscar and give it to Chris Rock for his work in the 2021 re-boot of Saw.
Stripping the Oscar from him would be considered racism and it would start BLM
“Stripping the Oscar from him would be considered racism and it would start BLM”
Okay, now I know you’re just trolling. Never mind, have a great day!
Yes. You’re NOT black so you wouldn’t understand.
And YES have a great day. I’m NOT trolling, I’m kinda speaking the truth
Your comment was presented in a forum for discussion. Surely, you know that people will react in a forum such as this. Goodness.
And your comment was NOT VALID…………So there
You are entitled to your opinion. Just as I am. So there.
Sorry for what I am going to say, I know it doesn’t hit well with American audiences, but I have something called empathy and I am team Will on this.
The problem is NOT Will Smith briefly snapping after Chris Rock making fun of Jada’s allopecia, the problem is that stand ups like Chris Rock have been allowed to harass and make a career – and millions in cash – out of “humor” like this, which is basically bullying and microviolence (which I suffer every day at work, unable to properly reply as I am on uniform and working… you can’t even imagine the ways people can attack you verbally and sometimes looking for you to snap, so they can get advantage and even get you fired). Smith put it in his speech quite clearly… they are supposed to smile when receiving low blows, just because they are in an audience of millions. I don’t see Smith’s punch as “toxic masculinity” and I don’t approve it in any means, but THIS was going to happen some day, it was a matter of time, that someone would just snap and slap the “comedian”. I know the tradition of “roasting” but this is not a “celebrity roast” but the damn Oscars, where people from all over the world, and all ages are watching. What kind of message is giving the AMPAS allowing a stand up like Chris Rock (Ricky Gervais and many more, by the way, fit the mold, in one way or another) to push themselves to the limit and make fun of things that are potentially harmful for thousands? This is kindergaten mentality in which the bully or the buffoon of the class is allowed to do as they please. Chris Rock should never be invited back to the Oscars. And I am sorry, but I am not going to boycott Will Smith for ONE moment of anger, for a quick snap, in the most stressful night of his life, probably.
Try empathy, it changes your life, really. It’s called “putting yourself in the other one’s skin” instead of seating in your throne with a remote control of so-called wisdom
PS: don’t tell me Chris Rock didn’t know in advance about Jada’s condition. These guys do continuous research for joke material… and the joke is beyond harsh if you analyze it… “GI Jane 2″… GI Jane was a razzie picture, huge bomb that destroyed Demi Moore’s career… the pun was basically making a joke that Jada’s career was over (because of her condition) and the only way to continue would be a sequel to one of Ridley Scott’s worst films and assured bomb. It’s all of that concentrated… “GI Jane” is like “Pluto Nash” or “Ishtar”, an icon of disaster.
You’re diving way too deep into what was simply an aesthetic joke; Jada simply looks like Demi Moore in GI Jane. Will Smith even laughed at the joke before realising Jada’s reaction.
Regardless of the film’s quality (though GI Jane’s 62 metacritic score vs Pluto Nash’s 12 proves their not in the same “icon of disaster” league) Demi Moore looked fantastic with a buzz cut and was playing a strong independent woman who took shit from no one.
Also, Chris Rock himself was severely bullied as a kid to the point where he had no choice to to drop out of high school. He knows his limits, and the joke didn’t come anywhere near to breaking it.
no, I am not going too deep… GI Jane is a movie infamous for destroying Demi’s career, and Jada’s obviously struggling due to the Hollywood obsession with looks, to get roles, and that’s due to a condition. Even more so, Jada’s career is suffering from the male-centric cannon of beauty and screen presence that is demanded on women, and thus, limiting her career options strongly. Just imagine he made a joke about Brendan Fraser being miscasted for “The Whale” when they could have gone for some extremely fat performer, or anything the like… probably you would then get it, that it is BODY SHAMING.
It is even worse, that this happens after Chadwick Boseman’s passing and how people gossiped about him due to his appearance, when people was unaware he was fighting cancer. It’s not like there aren’t plenty of precedents of people making fun of appearances and this situation has obviously taken a toll in the Smith marriage, and Chris Rock already attacked Jada many years ago (remember, among the boycott supporters of that year, were Ava duVernay and Spike Lee themselves, but Jada was an easy target for Rock). This kind of “comedian” make a career and even millions by harassing and using kindergaten humor, mostly insensitive, and in some cases, they more than cross the line – as this particular joke. In my country, this kind of humor is limited to intimate environment making sure that it never hits or affect or hurt anyone that could be offended (there’s the famous case of plenty of jokes about Irene Villa, a survivor of a terrorist attack when she was a child and that lost both legs, and she went on publicly to say that she was the first one making jokes about herself), but you got to love how people is hitting hard on a moment of rage that has been building up for years, and doesn’t publicly condemn the bully that has been building up that tension for those years.
It’s american mentality, it seems, to cheer the bully? Suddenly one victim snaps, and they all go, Springfield-like, to lynch the victim that finally snapped. Maybe you people should start by stopping this kind of harassing, which is not OK for starters, and should end the career of any “comedian” that wants to make money out of making fun of others for their physical conditions or appearances.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3cccabde3cc2a3f24c9d7f3efdc2db70f5117c55fc38b40f21ab8fc3b1a1b38e.jpg
Interesting you should think that Chris Rock is a bigger bully than Will Smith.
it is not a matter of who Will Smith may be. It is a matter of a guy who has made a career of shaming celebrities where they can’t defend themselves. We tend to forget that these are human beings, with unbelievable pressure… I have zero sympathy for Chris Rock, while I have been always admiring Will Smith always challenging himself to be bigger and better, despite its very bumpy first years in the show-biz (he openly acknowledges), his mistakes (the Six Degrees of Separation affair), and feeling overwhelmed and intrusive for starring in The Fresh Prince despite not being a trained actor (but he was perfect in the show, if you ask me)… he’s been growing up continuously – his career isn’t without flaws, of course – and he’s a hard worker. And he’s lynched for just one moment of (justified) anger that he couldn’t manage in the night where he ha the most pressure in his life, probably. Sorry, I am not going to jump of the bandwagon of lynching a celebrity for a moment of weakness, and tip toe over the fact that body shaming is not right, and Chris Rock actually went into that, making fun of the downfall of a celebrity’s career because a condition, in front of hundred millions… that’s verbal violence and somehow it seems that is not “important” for most?
“Also, Chris Rock himself was severely bullied as a kid to the point where he had no choice to to drop out of high school.”
Well, it was pretty obvious already, before last night, that he didn’t learn but actually took the wrong notes?
I’ve been bullied for being fat, short-sighted, suffered homophobic rants despite no one knowing I was gay, at school and high school, got beaten many times. Then at my workplace, there’s no week that I don’t get verbally assaulted in some way, I never go down to that level. I only snapped a couple of times when I was a child, and of course after the social pressure to actually hit back. As a teenager and as an adult, never did so – and you wouldn’t believe that the situations even some time became life-threatening for me and others (can’t discuss it).
So I find it funny when people says there’s no excuse for Will Smith’s reaction, but goes silent about what excuse has Chris Rock to become filthy rich thanks to this kind of humor?
People have become filthy rich in this world for worse reasons than “this kind of humor”. I don’t know what that has to do with anything.
“tu quoque” phallacy… to point out there are worse things in the world, doesn’t make right what happened.
BODY SHAMING. Not an aesthetic joke. Body shaming. Don’t make it look like something harmless. It is not.
GI Jane is hardly responsible for ruining Demi Moore’s career. It hardly even warrants calling it harassment, bullying and micro violence. The LGBTQ community has been called worse on National TV. Women have been called worse on National TV. As have African Americans and Asian communities. Imagine all of them going around punching and slapping people’s faces in the name of protecting their humanity and dignities. If you want to play the game of what joke is more worth punching and slapping and assaulting someone over, the answer is NONE. Otherwise, Donald Trump, Dave Chappelle, Kevin Hart and Joe Rogan deserve to be punched over and over and over and over again into a pulp. As does Sasha’s personal idol, Ben Shapiro. You want to live in a world full of vengeful self-righteous vigilantes inflicting physical violence masked as some form of poetic heroism, that’s fine, but don’t say I have zero empathy just because I don’t want to live in such a world.
repeat with me: BODY SHAMING. Do you know how many people comit suicide every year because of that?
Do you know how many vigilantes acting out of uncontrollable rage and a short fuse lead to violence and deaths?
No one is defending the joke, but PHYSICAL ASSAULT under ANY circumstances is UNACCEPTABLE unless you have been physically assaulted yourself.
your mistake is to think I am not condemning Will Smith’s behavior. My worry is about Chris Rock’s behavior being given a pass, and some people even actually praising him for “keeping cool” after he actually provoked the event, with his macho humor, removing from existence Penélope Cruz’s name (she is now just Mrs. Bardem) and poking fun of a condition in less than one minute. People is actually making a victim out of what it is clearly a bully.
When you slap somebody, punch somebody, maim somebody, murder somebody, start a war that slaughters a whole lot of somebodies, without you yourself or your love ones being slapped, punched, maimed or slaughtered, it really doesn’t matter anymore who or what “provoked you”, much less a comedian who’s not funny or a borderline misogynist or someone insensitive to bald, sick, handicapped or poor people. And Chris Rock handled being punched gracefully. Imagine a brawl between 2 ridiculous men-child in their 50s playing a game of who-insulted-who’s-wife and who’s-more masculine-than-whom in front of billions all over the world.
If you expect me to sympathize with Jada for being a pitiful object of a suicide-inducing brutally effective linguistic bully, sorry, not happening. Toxic bullies find easy targets to slap and punch; Punching a man physically weaker than he is is nothing to be proud of and is the stuff that cowards are made of. They find easy physical targets. I might have more respect for him if he had done the same with Jason Mamoa.
” I might have more respect for him if he had done the same with Jason Mamoa.” I hope you realise what you just did there.
I’m profiling bullies. Bullies bully the physically weak, men smaller in size, men whom they deem as less manly or more effeminate, women, children etc. I have no respect for men who physically assault people deemed weaker than they are. So I’m not sure what you are getting at what I’m getting at. Will Smith is a bully. Narcissistic entitled self-satisfied toxic bully who thinks he’s a bloody hero and “vessel of love” when he attacked Chris Rock. Typical bully who deserves all the backlash he gets. There is NO EQUIVALENCE between his disgusting behavior with what you deem as Chris Rock’s equally disgusting behavior.
I’m profiling bullies. Bullies bully the physically weak, men smaller in size, men whom they deem as less manly or more effeminate, women, children etc. I have no respect for men who physically assault people deemed weaker than they are. So I’m not sure what you are getting at what I’m getting at. Will Smith is a bully. Narcissistic entitled self-satisfied toxic bully who thinks he’s a bloody hero and “vessel of love” when he attacked Chris Rock. Typical bully who deserves all the backlash he gets. There is NO EQUIVALENCE between his disgusting behavior with what you deem as Chris Rock’s equally disgusting behavior.
both are bullies. That’s the whole point of this. Making a bully a victim when there’s a clash of bullies, is quite having the wrong perspective, because you’re condining one of the bullies.
When you say there are 2 bullies in this situation, it meant there are no victims. If there are no victims, there are no bullies. And that is just plain wrong. It’s like saying Capitol insurrectionists are horrible people, but we can “understand” why they did it, because those useless people at Congress are all horrible. Or that Putin is horrible, but Zelenskyy is also horrible. If they are both horrible, then they are both equally excusable. Please. There is no equivalence. Stop it.
no, there’re two bullies facing off. And both are also victims of their own insecurities.
and by the way… a slap hits just ONE person
public psychological bullying and body shaming hits thousands. Just so you don’t lose perspective.
That’s not true. When public slappers or punchers get away with slapping and punching people physically smaller or weaker than they are, it’s a signal. It’s a signal that it’s acceptable. Acceptable to slap and punch and then step up to the podium like a hero with an Oscar to wax lyrical about how glorious it is to use violence to “protect” the dignity and humanity of your family. That slapping and punching is telling the world that you are a “vessel of love”. It’s an ENDORSEMENT of physical violence and makes it so much easier for BULLIES all over the world to justify what they do. So just so that you don’t lose perspective, it DOES NOT just affect one person, it affects thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of victims of physical bullies the world over. Who suffer in silence in fear of physical bullies. Like this idiot whose name is Will Smith.
Sasha, what is the security protocol of an Oscar ceremony? I suppose every live show or sporting event has one. Dancing with the Stars, a live show, once had protestors jump down to the dance floor and they were immediately football-tackled by the security guards (video link here). If someone goes on stage (supposedly with no permission) and hits someone else, doesn’t the attacker get escorted somewhere? Doesn’t the security immediately step in? Last night, nothing seemed to have happened after the incident, at least not shown on TV. Did you see any immediate aftermath, Sasha?
You know what it was Sasha, it was Jada, it was your over the top toxic feminism manifesting on one of the saddest moments on the Oscars. It was an industry on a mental breakdown and, yes, you have contributed a lot, congratulations and thanks for ruining the Oscars.
Wow the comments section here gets really abstract once the Oscar ceremony is over.
abstract and feral!
You need to go live under a rock somewhere.
Compare the narcissistic masculine nonsense on display by this man with the sweet connection and kindness between Lady Gaga and Liza Minnelli at the end of the show made the latter especially moving to watch. It’s a wonderful, touching moment to hear Lady Gaga whisper “I gotcha” to Liza and she replied “I know, thank you”, caught by the mic before the nominations clip is shown. Women supporting each other at a time when it’s more convenient to throw a punch or start a war.
I wasn’t even a big fan of Gaga’s performance in House of Gucci, but in the end, this woman shows exactly how it should be done and what decency and human kindness mean.
Did you find that sweet? I actually think this trend of bringing out entertainment legends who are clearly too old and unwell to actually do the job properly is bizarre, and it does no favours to the legends themselves. A few years from now, do we want to remember Minnelli for when she was at the top of her game, or for this?
Liza had a choice to be there or not be there. She clearly enjoyed her moments back in the spotlight, despite the confusion and trepidation. That’s all that matters. It doesn’t subsume her legendary status or suddenly plunge her to the bottom of the game, in my opinion. It was the same with Tony Bennett and Kirk Douglas.
I agree with you here, it’s one last chance to be in the spotlight before being in the in Memoriam. These are stars, they love to be loved.
I don’t like Lady Gaga as a performer, I am at best neutral to her presence. But she seems like a quality person otherwise, taking on projects to advance the social good. It’s a good way to measure the person, do they use their fame to help others? She surely does.
As long as the health and well-being of old legends is not endangered in any way, I don’t mind putting them on stage for all to see — especially if they themselves want to be on stage. The awkwardness or any potential envelope snafus would still be too small a price to pay to have them on center stage, especially if they likely won’t get another chance to do so.
Lady Gaga should be the host next year. I’m sick of comedians and edgy jokes. Give me Lady Gaga with a series of classic movie stars. Give me songs and class and crazy gowns. I’m through with ‘late night talk show’ calibre comedy bits distracting from the purpose of celebrating movies. We need a host who demonstrates kindness and undeniable presence.
Plus her fans would help pad the Oscars next year.
I think we all understand the anger when your family is insulted, but you just can’t lay a hand on someone. He made fun of your wife, but didn’t threaten your life. That’s why the law is set up that way. Even if he insults your mother, daughter, cousin, pets, goldfish, etc. in perhaps even more repugnant ways (but without crossing the line to any kind of a life-threatening situation), it is still considered by the law as a (much) lesser offense than you physically attacking him.
So the film about toxic masculinity loses Best Picture while a person in full toxic masculinity mode beating another man on stage gets a standing ovation… this is so fucked up, disgusting!
CODA did get a standing ovation when they won.
I have a problem with the reactions at the two extreme ends: Those who say this is the end of Will Smith’s career and those who pretend like nothing happened. The biggest problem here is not the slap and outburst by Smith (it is very upsetting and awful) but the reactions to it, especially by those who are responsible for the ceremony. What happened was quite shocking and totally unacceptable and it cannot go without a punishment and must never happen again. The biggest shock of all is how appallingly the Academy has handled this. I mean, he has brought its awards ceremony into total disrepute. The first thoughts that went through my mind when I saw what happened was this is going to be a huge problem for Smith and maybe the Academy, too. So, I thought about the consequences and thought Smith timed his moment of madness perfectly because it’s difficult for him to lose the Oscar for Best Actor which will be presented in a few minutes time. Then I thought maybe this is an extraordinary situation and might require an extraordinary action by the Academy. I thought why not just cancel the award for Best Actor this year to prevent Smith from winning it and to punish him for this unacceptable transgression? Or give out the award but stop him from accepting it? Send a signal, any kind of a signal, to show they will not accept anyone bringing their ceremony into disrepute. They can act after the show ended and ban Smith from attending their ceremony in the foreseeable future.
Academy bosses mad at Chris Rock because the joke was not pre-approved:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-10659481/Chris-Rocks-Jada-Pinkett-Smith-joke-NOT-pre-vetted-rehearsals.html
It could explain the Academy’s leniency towards Smith, if they considered the joke was a personal attack on the couple.
Nothing could explain the Academy’s leniency towards Will Smith. Nothing could support any theory that Chris Rock attacked that entitled narcissistic couple unless he punched and slapped Will Smith without anyone knowing.
I don’t think that cuts. Regardless of the bad joke by Rock, they shouldn’t accept Smith bringing their show into disrepute. If they tolerate this kind of behaviour, we will see more of it. They stamp it put now by banning Smith for the foreseeable future.
It doesn’t excuse Will Smith’s appalling behavior but it is an issue in its own right for the producers when someone goes off script to make a potentially offensive joke. It’s also the sort of behavior they’d like to avoid.
Yes, that’s a problem but there’s a bigger problem with attack and they haven’t even dealt with it at all. They need to a grip with that fast.
Every joke has the potential to offend somebody or another.
Yes and that is why they need to be reviewed beforehand by several people. It’s the f***ing Oscars not a one-man-show.
No it doesn’t excuse Will Smith’s behavior but Chris Rock was in the wrong for doing that and if the joke was not pre-approved then Chris Rock should be held accountable like Will Smith.
F*ck the Academy lol I’ll bet they didn’t approve Smith’s full-on physical assault of Rock either
But it seems ad though they did since he’s not faced punishment fir his actions. Is this all about ratings and that’s they did nothing then and still are doing now?
If I were a comedian, I would never again appear at the Oscars. The powers that be seem so willing to throw their hired talent under the bus.
There is NO justification for what that man did in front of millions of people in live TV around the world! Do not even try to defend showcase of that toxic masculinity! I am even more disappointed with all those celebrities in the audience for giving him a standing ovation literally minutes after he slapped a man on the face! Arent they all supposed to be “anti-violence/anti-war”
Humanitarian celebrities? And why the Academy even let him stay there and give an acceptance speech is beyond me! Are they that desperate for ratings???? It was a very embarrassing night not only for that chauvinist pig but for the academy and the movie industry in general! Shame on them!
Kevin Costner and Anthony Hopkins both spoke beautifully. Took their time and got it right. Cruella costume designer earlier was marvelous. Chastain so classy. Lot of good speeches on the night despite the flops and the madness.
I still didn’t love the joke, but, personally, my sister and I have discussed, and we’d love to star in G.I. Jane Part Deux. Comparing us to badass women works for us. Give us a ring, Ridley.
The slap was totally unjustified, but the worst part was the speech after – God calling him to do certain things, he’s a defender of family etc. Shameful. And al after he laughed at first until Jada’s reaction.
If you still believe that people in Hollywood are fighting for what’s right and true and seeking Justice and doing the right thing then you are f*cking stupid. They’re not your friends, they’re not heroes, they’re not bastions of tolerance and inclusivity and progressivism. They’re entertainers here to take your money. The fact that a grown man assaulted another in national television and no one did anything about it speaks volumes. Stop looking to these people as spokespersons for the “right side of history”
It honestly makes me feel oddly better as a film lover. I came on these forums as a film lover first – which is why I’m still here, and I appreciate everyone’s views and thoughts. So, it makes me feel better now that my favorite films aren’t loved by this Country Club. What regular person would want to be accepted by this f’ed up Country Club? I was already getting there, not watching this year for the first time. Waking up this morning, I’m like, “Signed, sealed, delivered.” They made it so clear.
this was my realisation last night too. I love movies and always will appreciate awards season but this crap fest marked the end for me and the Academy. These people are deranged. Like Herzog said, these are not spokespersons. These are spoiled brats in a country club and what they choose as “best” lost a lot of meaning now
Was just watching Smith’s acceptance speech post slap. He claimed “god is calling on me” to do things. Did this “god” call on him to physically assault Chris Rock? Talk about egoism and hubris.
United States has too much ‘god’ on the mind for my liking. In some other western countries you don’t get away with all those god copouts . I’ve seen Serena pull that too before in times of controversy.
My other current thought: “Let them eat cake” feels apt right now. Maybe not so odd since he won an Oscar for a film where he (produces to win an Oscar) and calls himself King and then compares himself to God. https://media4.giphy.com/media/l0HFinV4S5WYZ8BXi/giphy.gif
exactly!
Honestly … the slap wasn’t even the bad part for me. I can understand Smith’s emotions, even if I think his response was really stupid and shouldn’t be condoned.
Instead, it was that TERRIBLE, gross, “God has chosen me” BS, and that toxic as hell “I’m a PROTECTOR of WOMEN” speech – and the APPLAUSE – that really gets me. And don’t get me started on the shitty shitty twitter discourse lol
They should simply remove him from the room. When the time comes to award Best Actor, just simply say: “Will Smith isn’t here to accept the award.” And move on.
And what’s up with Anthony Hopkins praising his speech?
I’m trying to understand that they have to keep the show going with little fanfare as possible. Hindsight is 20/20 and it would be hard for anyone to think correctly on their feet on such an unprecedented moment.
The whole thing was and still is and will always be so sad and upsetting.
And “Love will make you do crazy things”…
Yep. When on deifies themselves, it’s always a red flag — when people applaud it, double-red flag. When the self-deification seems to be a justification for unnecessary violence…almost psychotic.
The whole thing was surreal.
Even though it seems clear the room ended up being so uncomfortable, apparently they weren’t upon the standing O. Or, at least had no idea how surreal it was for anyone watching “outside” the theater. Which is also telling (they’re all so far removed from the world, that’s clear).
I think that is a mix of condemning the act but also empathising with a human being in a unique moment who clearly knows they screwed up bigtime (despite the speech) and who they might feel they’ve known, also to defuse the unbearable tension. Less forgiveness than recognising someone in agony at a time for ecstasy. The inaction to intervene more generally was worse than any individual support or applause.
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
It is not rocket science : unless you are defending yourself or someone else from an imminent physical attack, physical violence is never justified. Never.
Opting for it still or justifying / applauding others opting for it without imminent physical threat, is as toxic and problematic as it gets.
And don’t even get me started on the speech because that was just oil to the fire. His publicists were feeding him lines in the ad breaks, clearly trying to deliver some form of damage control on super short notice but the end result was an outrageously insulting mess like “yeah, shed a few tears, and mention God and also bring up all women at your table and how you are their protector and talk about a calling from a higher power and also don’t forget to talk about love and how you are the vessel of love” blah blah blah. It was almost as cringe as the slap itself.
The fact that the Academy not only didn’t remove him from the room but played along, is disgusting. Almost as disgusting as Will Smith getting a standing ovation after all that and then partying carefree not long after. Of course he didn’t worry about accountability when literally nobody who could have, held him accountable.
Just a disgrace.
P.S. Irony is of course that he didn’t deserve that Oscar in the first place, other than Bardem all other nominees would have been considerably more worthy winners than he was.
In my opinion, the problem is ideologies. The event is supposed to be a celebration and recognition of movie making. The Academy is concerned with ratings. The first problem is that they start the program 2 hours in advance to pay attention to what celebrities say and how they dress. After the long red carpet, people are not interested in watching how each category is recognized. In the past, people were expecting to see stars as presenters and/or recipients and that is over with the red carpet (a circus). The second problem is the inclusion ideology. The recognitions is supposed to be focused on work and talent and not on giving a “like” to each group. Nobody is going to be liked by all. That will never happen, specially in these “inclusion”-ideology times, since there are tenths or hundreds of groups. I had never seen so many diversity within recipients. Take as example the group of directors who have been recognized (mexican, chinese, korean, french, british, women, men). Another ideology problem is that it has turned into a competition of who is the greatest victim of all. In my case, I am mexican, brown skin and that will give me a lot of points as an oppressed victim so that I deserve an award. However, the point again is talent and work, not victimization. If we start gathering people in a competition to identify the greatest victims, it is obvious there is going to be a lot of verbal violence with the consequence of physical violence. The Academy should start trying to avoid be liked by all an invite presenters and people who do not verbally abuse by using inclusion-language, a language which is violent and divisive.
If this was your local country club, work environment or even bar, imagine hitting someone and then swearing loudly in anger and not being removed immediately? The fact that he didn’t have to leave is amazing. Then no one says anything? What?! Then, they stand for him!?! They’ve lost their minds. But, then again, this is the same group that applauded Harvey and Spacey for a decade or two knowing full well of everything. Not only have they learned nothing, they openly condoned it live on air.
This group has become almost unbelievable. The Golden Globes somehow look not so bad in comparison. At least most of them aren’t millionaires speaking a good tune then doing the exact opposite. Oy.
Sorry, but it was startling to see what we all know about the Oscars become so explicit.
If this happened at my place of work, I’d be fired and arrested. Alas….
Yep. Removed in seconds. Fired by the end of the day. Or permanently removed from your Country Club (and if you weren’t, you’d have to be the richest person at the Club, i.e., full entitlement).
For sure. Gross misconduct.
If a random person approached Rock and punched him, they’d be arrested. I don’t get why Smith gets a free pass. It’s disgusting. And then they party afterwards ….
This would never happen for you, me or anyone here. Even if not arrested at a bar (often, you are), the bartender’s job is to say get the hell outta here. Let alone a posh country club (which they are). I literally don’t get it.
And the entire family attended the after party as well, posing for pictures. Smith should be arrested.
And I thought “Spencer” was the film about the most f’ed up family this year…I was wrong.
Smith saved the Oscars from being entirely forgettable. Director win sticks like a sour thumb because her movie not only got completely rejected (winning 1 out of 12 categories is an unprecedented and unmitigated disaster) but it was bested by 2 movies that “directed themselves” since their directors missed: CODA that won Picture (including the all important Script) and Dune that won the most Oscars (including the all important Editing). Netflix got humiliated. Campion win felt like an optics obligation, a box checker. It is not a triumph it was supposed to be when it looked like she would win Picture and Adapted too thanks to critical overhype. Fiasco of grand proportions.
Smith should be expelled from the Academy for this behaviour.
He brought the Academy into disrepute on a global scale. Even my 91-year-old British grandfather is talking about this.
The big problem here is everyone saw him laugh. Is there freedom of speech or not? Or is it freedom of slapping people. Figure it out.
Many people have wisely said already :
You go up to him at governor’s or vanity Fair party and say ‘ hey man that was really inappropriate what you said about my wife tonight’ you know…. with grace.
But no it has to be the narcissistic narrative in front millions. These people are professionals at the game and not well and sit and plot in their homes of how to make a viral moment. Yes it was definitely real (ish) but now actors are seeing they are becoming less and less relevant due to EVERYONE being famous and they have these younger generations who are making them obsolete by the second.
Clocks ticking….. On movies and all of Hollywood so the energy in the room , desperation : it all makes sense.
Broadcast to millions around the world, the Oscar ceremony itself is increasingly looking like an afterparty. Some people (how many?) are sloshed with various chemicals coursing through their bodies. Somebody tells a tasteless joke. Somebody lands what looks like a powerful slap to the jokester’s face. Some people are shocked. Others think it’s to be applauded. Somebody rambles through an “apology” which nobody quite knows how to take. Some pat the offender on the back, in effect offering him another drink. Nobody throws him out.
The Oscars, always a glittery, self-congratulatory night, nonetheless once had dignity. Where is it now?
But this kind of joke and worse happens all the time but no one goes crazy and attacks people. Smith is not knew to this and he has made his career making of people and knows how comedians like Chris Rock work. I don’t understand why he’s suddenly so shocked and unable to handle a little jab.
Good point. I was trying to address the general atmosphere that I’m afraid has leaked into the Oscars. If it’s an emotional free for all, then it’s no longer an occasion. It’s just a chance to dress up and act out. That’s very sad for an industry that sometimes, if too rarely, produces truly admirable work that deserves respect.
I think refusing to give Smith the Oscar was an appropriate action to take. Perhaps not enough on its own, in my opinion. I would’ve taken appropriate action to protect the integrity of the ceremony and put Smith in his place for bringing the show into disrepute. I mean, they behave better at the Golden Globes than they did at Oscars last night.
I totally agree. Remember when everybody used to joke that the Globes were just an amiable, drunken, sit-down dinner party? People went for the fun. Nobody minded a whole lot, at least not on the night itself, who won or lost. It was a little evening spree. I’m afraid the Oscars are becoming more like that.
Imagine what would have happened to Ricky Gevais if this type of behaviour was seen as acceptable? He’d be scared to get on stage.
How many comments did we hear about toxic masculinity last night and throughout the awards season, and then as good an example of it as anything found in Campion’s movie ends up being applauded and defended on social media. No doubt Men have done a lot of horrible shit throughout history, but maybe we should start talking more about twitter toxicity.
The Power of the Dog is a critique of toxic masculinity so this comment is absurd.
If PoTD is a critique of toxic masculinity, it’s in the form of gender norms and expectations. And in that case, how is this idea that someone has to resort to violence to defend his woman’s honor any less an example of that?
There’s no defence. Period. He made uo that bull to cover himself. Is Smith not a comedian and not familiar with award shows? His been a professional for a long time and knows how to behave in such situations, so why did he suddenly lose it this time? I don’t buy the explanation one bit. Not at all.
Are you thinking that I’m defending Smith? Let me be extra clear – I’m saying that Smith’s behavior is an example of the toxic masculinity that these people who are now cheering have been railing against all awards season.
I thought you were very clear all along.
I know that. I’M simply dismissing his lame excuse.
Gotcha. Yeah, his speech afterwards only made him look worse to me.
Oh. I misunderstood you. Thanks for clarifying. I completely agree. His speech was so self-aggrandizing it was unbearable to watch.
Whaaaaat?!?
See my explanation below.
My God.
Who knew a GI Jane reference would cause so much anger..
I think this is the producer Will Packer’s fault. He didn’t want to put on a classy show. He wanted it to be like that — cheap, scandalous, all about celebs. This year’s Oscars were really targeting people who would never care about the Oscars’ traditions. It was disheartening to witness that. Shame on the Academy.
It was shocking. At first it looked like the punch was maybe a rehearsed joke between the two men as Chris Rock tried to laugh it off and the audience laughed too, but then the expletive-laden couple warnings from an obviously angry Smith to a visibly shaken Chris Rock left no doubt that the scene was all too real and the mood soured.
Maybe it was the literal lack of distance with a difficult-to-process event, the embarrassment or the fear of being punched (or in the case of Denzel an attempt to calm things down and help a friend save what should’ve been his greatest night) but the people in the room seemed to react with more sympathy for Smith than the TV audience did.
https://twitter.com/ScottFeinberg/status/1508273120473325573?s=20&t=2XpAhxwDZ7xE8pAWvxGXaw
I wonder if anyone went to Chris Rock and tried to comfort him?
Well, if you read my posts, Will seems to be “fragile”. And he’s contemplated suicide and all sorts of weird stuff for someone who’s rich, has an intact family, success and fame. No doubt no matter how much they try, there’s some issues about his marriage to Jada. She’s an admitted adulterer with a younger man who spilled the beans when she quit the relationship. And I just read excerpts from his book, and boy oh boy, he needs to go see a psychologist or something. Don’t tell your inner most secrets to the public!
I understand, although I certainly don’t know as much about the couple’s issues as you seem to know, I do know the couple has been the butt of unsavory remarks all season and Smith must’ve been like an overheated boiler ready to blow over at that point. It was the one joke too much and Chris Rock had apparently already made jokes about Jada in the past.
Nonetheless, Will’s behavior was clearly unacceptable. The Academy should’ve sent someone on stage ASAP to apologize to viewers and condemn his gesture and Smith should’ve been escorted out and forced to apologize publicly and profusely (especially to Chris Rock) before he could be allowed back in and receive his Oscar.
It’s a perfect microcosm of society’s approach to violence. Look the other way; laugh it off; blame the other person, be too afraid to stand up and say ‘this is not ok’. A mentor of mine in broadcasting use to say to me that ‘we are in the business of creating monsters’ = and he was right. With celebrities we revere them and pander to them to such a degree, they think they are above the law. The guy assaulted another person on live TV! And he thinks that’s ok. And his explanation is that he has to defend his family and unwittingly emulate the man he just won an Oscar in depicting. It’s bulls#t!
I do find it interesting that amongst all the controversy, one item has been overlooked. During Smith’s speech, the camera showed the Williams sisters, then the picture kept flashing the Oscars logo over the family. At first, I thought is was technical issues, but it turns out they were trying to censor the “wardrobe malfunction” that was happening with Venus. Obviously not as scandalous as Janet Jackson some years ago, but I did think it would get more mention in the press.
The irony is palpable. The big loser of the night, a film about toxic masculinity. The winner – an actor who embodies toxic masculinity (apparently)
What will be discussed less is the race aspect of this, that black men are often considered to be more violent.
He has to be arrested, I am guessing. They can’t let this go. What a horrible lesson for kids if they don’t.
he will only be arrested if Rock reports, I think. But I doubt he will.
I believe Rock has already said he won’t press charges. I’m sure he just wants to forget about it. Terrible night for Smith, Rock, and anyone connected to KING RICHARD. I also feel bad for Questlove, who made a great film and had his moment taken from him.
I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this. I am beyond disgusted. Disgusted at Smith for assaulting someone on live TV and casting a shadow over the whole night. Disgusted at the Academy for not removing him from the room. Disgusted at his speech which was filled with classic abuser language. And disgusted at the people who gave him an ovation. I’ll never watch another one of his films.
And Sasha, I’ve disagreed with you a few times this year over the Oscars dying…but turns out I’m wrong. THIS is the type of thing that could kill the Oscars. We tuned in to see a classy, glamorous celebration of cinema. We got a violent assault that no one did anything about and then one of the biggest stars in the world gaslights everyone by saying “god told me to do it”, “I’m a protector of women”, “love makes you do crazy things.” GROSS. And all in a ceremony that is trying to have a moment of silence for Ukraine and acting like they are the arbiters or all that is good and right and true in the world. Utterly ridiculous. I just cant shake the awful taste in my mouth.
Next year there will be a shooting and brawl…like every other year at the Hip Hop awards.
That’s the dumbest thing I’ve read all day.
Why? It’s like something Chris Rock would say.
And that would be a dumb thing to say. I think because this happened next year won’t have an issue like this. Don’t bring back Rock who could potentially get slapped again. Don’t bring back Will despite the tradition that he would announce Best Actress. The Oscars are nothing like the hip hop awards.
I was making a joke with a little sting of truth in it. That’s all.
Yeah if people think this is bad imagine what Chappelle or Gervais or Andrew Dice Clay might have said
Be careful. Some people here might think you deserve to be slapped and punched shitless for it. The world we live in…
Absolutely. It was a disgusting display. Like the golden globes. The oscars should be cancelled. And this proves that there is no cancel culture. It has always always been about consequence culture. There has got to be consequences for people’s actions. Otherwise, what kind of society do we become?
Hear hear, beautifully put, you have a good heart. Like you I could feel some Oscars mortality tonight.
Smith was laughing hard when Rock first cracked the joke. But suddenly he was up on stage pummeling the comedian. Word is that he took one look at his wife’s unamused reaction and went bonkers. She seemed to approve. Maybe even got off on it. There is something sick and disturbing about these two. Sort of like like George and Martha (from “Virginia Woolf”) playing “games for the guests” at the Oscars.
Who’s afraid of Chris Rock?
I am, Jada, I am
There are so many things to unpack…I didn’t think anything could make Hollywood worse than the Weinstein scandal, but damn…we just saw a man physically assault another man on live television and suffer no repercussions for it whatsoever…?
I just want to point out that Will Smith hasn’t been the one making anti-gay and anti-trans jokes. He’s popular across a wide swath of America at least partly because he’s been very likeable and has been one of the good guys in Hollywood. Chris Rock has been the shit-head, who’s career is currently on life-support. So while Smith’s behavior last night was obviously a problem, remember that for his whole career he’s been doing things the right way, in contrast to Rock.
You don’t have to watch Chris Rock’s standup if you don’t want to. That’s freedom of choice. You don’t get to decide what jokes people get to tell or not
I think it’s fair to point out that Will Smith has consistently been the friend and supporter of the same people that Chris Rock has been mocking for cheap laughs. Rock can perform any routine he wants, but I think people are also within their rights to call him out for being part of the problem.
“Call him out” by physically assaulting him?
And that is likewise their right. Feel free to call out a joke you don’t like. But don’t come here and tell me that assaulting a man because he made a joke is an acceptable reaction to anything
Please. Punching and slapping is NOT just “calling someone out”.
Chris Rock has been making anti-gay and anti-trans jokes?
I haven’t been able to find anything about this with a google search…. is Chris Rock being confused with Dave Chappelle? lol
Yes. I think Trevor is doing that all black comedians look alike thing.
Do not try to justify that assault with your stupid say of thinking!!!! Assault is an assault!
Let the record show that the brief and lazy Academy statement they put out about “not condoning violence” was as gaslight-y and tone-deaf as it gets : not removing him from the room and then giving him extra time for his speech that everyone knew would be some hastily put together damage control drivel, is the definition of “condoning” his behaviour.
The Academy should take back Will Smith’s Oscar and give it to Mike Faist.
I thought we hated category fraud
Why have I just noticed he looks like the Oscar Expert twins?
They should give Mike Faist two Oscars to apologize for this indignity.
I was in the bed and woke up to the news. Chris wasn’t funny at all, esp. when you start poking fun at husbands and wives. Look at Lupito’s face!
All the embarrassing takes right now I am seeing on social media right now.
You have a problem with a joke? TAKE IT OUTSIDE. Actors have been subject to celebrity roasts and bad award show jokes for decades. Is Will Smith such a snowflake that he couldn’t hold himself back for like an hour or two?
Look, lefty or righty, there are narcissists on both sides. His speech was nothing but the same word salad Trump spews and people eat up. It was his coronation and he was not going to have Chris Rock ruin it. It was pathetic.
People magazine reports that Chris Rock’s remark ribbing Jada about her close-cropped head struck an especially sensitive topic:It turns out Rock’s joke was deeply personal to [Will Smith] and his wife, who has experienced hair loss due to the autoimmune disorder alopecia that impacts the hair follicles, resulting in both bald spots and hair loss.
That’s just bullshit. It was a G.I.Jane 2 Joke, which Jada would be crazy not to do. Her career is not exactly on fire. I’d actually go see that.
it was a direct joke about her appearance. Low humor. College humor.
doesn’t justify assault
nobody is justifying assault. We all know this kind of “humor” can have consequences, and Chris Rock probably thought he could get away with it – as many times before – and this time, he couldn’t. Not supporting WS actions but certainly I won’t defend Chris Rock either… both have to learn from this.
You are justifying it. As much as you like to think you are not justifying it. And I’d like to understand exactly what kind of “humor” deserves what kind of consequences.
Saudi Arabia wanted Hasan Minhaj comedy banned, which Netflix happily did. I’m sure the Saudi Prince will have no qualms about showing Hasan what “consequences” his humor demands had it not been banned in his country.
all your comments on this, favour defending it; by saying Chris deserved it due to his tasteless humour. Nothing justifies what Smith did. Nothing.
Grossest display of entitlement. So many hypocrites.
TBH, I don’t ever want to watch a Will Smith film after all this.
That’s how I feel too. I’m done.
I was watching King Richard on Disneyplus yesterday and stopped halfway for dinner and then Oscars. not finishing it, and Smith begone of my world!
I do, however, want to check out G.I. Jane again. Haven’t seen that old chestnut since the 90s.
It’s at least average Scott, which ain’t bad!
Jaden Smith apparently said on Twitter “And that’s how we do it.”
dysfunctional. all of them
Jive ass dude ain’t got no brains anyhow
(That’s a direct quote from 1980’s satirical spoof comedy AIRPLANE, in case anybody was wondering.)
To be clear: I hate jokes about people’s looks. I thought this one was a bit low and crude. But, it’s also not lost on me that some are justifying violence because a multi-millionaire dollar family that is beautiful has a member with a condition that hundreds of millions or more people around the world also have and are also still beautiful, i.e., just a cosmetic condition? I’ve had it since 21. So, there’s another layer of what that means people find important. What happened to G.I. Jane is a badass woman? Bald is beautiful? Etc. And, I’m looking at one screen of tens of thousands of people being bombed not giving a crap about their looks, then seeing rich folks in their ’50s obsessed about their looks when they’re already beautiful and that’s what we’re saying justifies violence in this world?
I don’t care if the joke is about how ugly your child is. You do not get up on national television and commit an act of violence. This has an automatic chilling effect on all stand-up comedy and television hosting in particular.
“Let me tell you something, it’s a very bad practice to walk up on stage and physically assault a Comedian. Now we all have to worry about who wants to be the next Will Smith in comedy clubs and theaters.” — Kathy Griffin
This kind of where I’m at too. She looked good. I understand why she may be extra sensitive to the comment, but on a certain level it does seem crazy that this reaction by Smith was a response to his wife being compared to Demi Moore. Where’s the insult in that? It seems common enough now that people are just rocking the hairstyle by choice; that Chris Rock just saw her sitting there, made that connection in his mind and made the comment without any real thought. I certainly had no idea about her condition until after all this happened and I don’t think his status as a celebrity means it can be taken for granted that Rock knew.
I think his actions took away from every winner that came after it, it was the only thing people talked about. But it also showcases how unimportant the Oscars have become, to show up and see a bunch of movies people hardly watched. The only movie that people watched was relegated to the off stage prizes. It was a weird and bad Oscar show.
I think what saved it was the lovely speeches. Ariana, Troy, Jessica all gave wonderful speeches and even the Coda wins were heart-warming.
But the thing that will be talked about is The Slap. The movies are now like they have been to the Academy for the last few years totally inconsequential.
But maybe this will teach the Academy to actually vote for good performances, they were itching to give their box office boy and award, but he was clearly not in the same league as Denzel Washington in The Tragedy of Macbeth, or even the same league as Andrew in Tick Tick Boom. the Academy decided it was his time months ago, and well, they got THE SLAP.
The Producers promised a sleeker show, by editing in the 8 awards that were done before the show, but that looked awkward and messy and it just felt manufactures. This may be both the worst and my favorite oscars in a long time.
Because the Academy got exactly what it deserved. Drama!
and it did exactly what it set out to do dishonor the nominees.
I know, should be happier about Chastain winning and Troy’s wonderful stuff with Joon but now it’s about this, it always will be. Just a damn shame.
it will always be about The Slap. This is going to follow The Academy for YEARS!
This is like that Warren Beatty screw up, right? Announcing the wrong Best Movie?
That was Dunaway not Beatty.
The show was supposed to be streamlined and run shorter because of the categories that were “edited it” It ran longer than last years show and it was a total fiasco.
I’ve heard it said actors tend to be overly emotional people, hence why so many can’t seem to give an acceptance speech, without crying or going into hysterics? The whole crying, flustered out of control Oscar speech shtick, had been getting old for a while. Maybe Smith’s jump the shark antics off and on the podium, will cause future attendees to get a grip.
Remember when Tom Cruise had a nervous breakdown on Oprah’s Couch. Will Smith had a nervous breakdown at the Academy Awards. This is what he will be known for, for, the, rest, of, his, life.
I certainly forgot about the Couch for a long time. In 4 years, from now, people will see it as just anecdotic… Tom Cruise’s career didn’t suffer that much, and probably Will’s won’t, pending on how he manages then next weeks (probably will appear in a lot of talk shows apologizing and trying to explain himself).
I am actually more interested in see where Chris Rock’s comedy goes from here. He crossed a line repeatedly and now he’s conscious that there are limits in which you become the bad guy. I am no fan of making this kind of jokes or beating a dead horse, like Gervais or Rock normally do… I like dark humor, but not tasteless jokes about appearance or physical condition.
Cruise’s career went through massive shifts because of that stuff. His production dissolved specifically because of the comments he made, and his entire star persona on screen shifted in the following years from “everyone loves Tom Cruise and Tom Cruise is in so many different things” to “Tom Cruise is in genre movies where the selling point isn’t him”.
and now Tom Cruise is filming Mission Impossible 7 (I think), is buzzed to be the next Iron Man and even earned a Golden Globe nomination many years ago for Tropic Thunder… he had an hiatus, reshaped his career, and it is quite strong as it ever was. It is all about how you handle it… and TC wasn’t making a reaction to offensive comments about his wife…
You oughta watch the Tony Awards sometime. The Broadway actors who win almost invariably give articulate, moving and genuine speeches that come from the heart. It’s rare when they’re caught flat-footed or resort to reading dull laundry lists of names to thank. … You caught a glimpse of that grace from Ariana DeBose, a Broadway pro, last night.
Ratings jump thanks to Willy.
AMPAS: proof that we should pre-tape even more categories!
https://media0.giphy.com/media/34yZvlqVeV0xa/giphy.gif
He sure needed this.
As No Thanks commented earlier Sasha, Jada did not look happy at all by the joke as Will was laughing so did she say something to him or did he notice her face and either through his embarrassment of being caught laughing by her or the need to defend her honour did her do what he did?.. The embarrassment would perhaps explain his shocking and disgraceful response.
Will Smith’s behaviour serves the Acadamy right for honouring the wrong person for the wrong reasons! Disgraceful !
ahem, that’s Campion. They hated her movie and yet gave her Director for optics. That Dog was completely humiliated by 2 movies that didn’t even have Director noms – CODA (Picture winner) and Dune (biggest number of wins) speaks volumes. As does that even Tammy Faye won more (2). If any win sticks like a sour thumb, that’s Campion.
I wonder how close it was between Campion, Spielberg and Brannagh
very close I’d say. It’s also worth noting that Heder won 2 (as a scribe and producer) thus upstaging Campion. Will Smith upstaged everyone, however.
It’s also worth noting that you are wrong. Heder won adapted screenplay. She’s not among the film’s nominated (and winning) producers.
then it’s 1 and 1 for each.
Strip him of his Oscar. Make him PAY for what he did. This was an act of purest madness. Sure, Rock was a douche, but Smith’s actions went way beyond the pale. Drop the hammer on him.
Rock was presenting a documentary award and his jokes should have been about the documentaries. Since he’s friends with Questlove, a joke about the Summer of Soul would have worked.
Totally agree. The guy assaulted Chris Rock, who was doing his job. He must pay for it.
It will be really damning if there are no direct consequences. You can’t just do that in such a public setting, on such a global stage, and be allowed to get away with it. What does the USA stand for? Nothing? We’ll see. Whether Rock presses charges isn’t enough, you can’t just push it away with narrative. The Oscars right now are tarnished, it isn’t just Smith himself, it was cataclysmic, especially if it isn’t properly confronted and addressed as the abhorrent act it was.
What I liked about the Awards (went to bed halfway through):
-The setting, the loungey-look. Very cool.
-The three hosts (although they didn’t have much to do after the opening)
Other than that,
-Hated the “Bruno” song presentation. It was too short and we’ve seen that type of choreography before in previous shows. “Bruno” should have been the FIRST song to open the show instead of Beyonce. IMO.
-Hated that there wasn’t a full orchestra like in past. That band on stage was so small you would have missed it. They were on stage one time and then they left….what happened with that?
You clearly missed A LOT going to bed halfway through, including there being a full orchestra that a host acknowledged and that they showed underneath the stage.
The people in the room should be ashamed of their behavior given Smith a standing ovation.
That was even more creepy. Surreal, and these people should’ve known better, and have giftwrapped for Republicans the next month of bashing the ‘librul elites’ in the entertainment business. Just a ghastly sight.
Can you imagen the reaction if the assaulter were Javier Barden, Jesse Plemmons, Bennedict Cumberbatch, Andrew Garfield or any other husband defending his wife?
I’d like to say… never judge anyone for a moment of anger. Never.
My suggestion for the AMPAS would be, next year, have Will and Chris present together Best Actress in a Leading Role. And revise the joke material, while Smith lose his temper, Chris Rock’s joke was extremely offensive and that’s not the kind of humor (making jokes of anyone’s appearance) that should be allowed in a massive event like the Oscars.
I’d like to say, violence is never ok.
look, I suffer micro-violence every day at work (airport)… you wouldn’t believe the situations I’ve been involved in. There’s no one more antiviolence than me, probably (been to a war), but what Chris Rock did is also violence, if verbal. Making fun of someone’s appearance/disability/illness (even more so, in front of a live audience of millions) is microviolence to say the least. Smith should have waited for his acceptance speech to actually respond to Rock, but obviously he was too stressed and nervous about his upcoming win. He acted childishly and has to learn from that, but Rock as well…
he committed a crime. It’s abhorrent behaviour.
minor crime. A punch/slap in the face is a minor crime. If he doesn’t present charges – I doubt he will – maximum Smith will be fined.
And CR shouldn’t actually make a mess with sueing Will, by the way, he’ll become poison… he may have to reconsider his kind of stand up show.
you don’t get it. i’m not going to expend further energy making the same point.
Hear hear, amazing what people will attempt to defend. What Will did was disgraceful and criminal and extremely excessive under the circumstances. Shifting the blame into victim blaming Chris for his harmless ceremony-typical gag is absolutely disgusting to me.
thank you Sruj, for me too. I can stomach a lot of drivel that some people say on here, but minimising common assault is not one I can countenance. I just read Daniel Fienberg’s wrap on Hollywood Reporter and it is a good read. It gives further voice to how shocking this incident was.
I dare you to punch/slap the next person who commits the insult of ‘microviolence’ against you, and see how the judge reacts to your defence that they are both ‘minor crimes’.
Imagine all stand up comics now having to watch over themselves when doing their jobs in case someone has some personal reason to be “offended” and come on to the stage to slap the shit out of them. And who’s to decide what joke “deserves” to be slapped and what joke doesn’t. You probably think Ricky Gervais, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler all deserved to be punched and slapped too. Celebrities have been offended at one time or another by those 3 at the Globes. Imagine acting out like that.
Insulting someone’s appearance is not violence. Words are words and violence is violence, calling one “micro-violence” doesn’t change that.
Assault is not just acting childish. Comedy, however off-color, is not the same as physical violence.
Microviolence is…something.
It is not physical violence.
Chris Rock had a very bad writer. I wonder if he wrote that bit or did he have a team of writers. I can imagine a roomful of writers throwing out jokes and approving jokes, but somebody should have told him, “those are lame.” Esp. the one with Javier….never joke about a husband/wife team. Never.
Javier was a good sport about it. And what was Amy schumer doing hitting on Jesse plemmons. Also at the start of the show Smith was hit on despite being married. This is what people will remember.
I liked the Bardem-Cruz joke. It was funny, and wasn’t insulting to either of them.
IMO Jokes should be about the movies, like what the 3 hosts were doing. That joke about the Ricardos not being a comedy was funny, more like that. Not about personalities and actors. And the joke about Leonardo and young women, it’s been done over and over and over.
Jokes should be funny. They can be about actors, movies, whatever, as long as they’re funny.
And yeah, every female host for the past ten years has been doing the “Leo dates young women” bit. It’s not funny.
This was an extremely lazy joke.
Will Smith should be expel from the Academy and ban from attending any future event of the institution at the very least.
But Gervais has made many jokes when he hosted the Golden Globes especially in 2011. Nobody got mad. Ideally Smith should have waited till the show was over and then had a few words with Chris Rock.
that doesn’t mean that this kind of humor is ok.
We’re kinda past that point. This isn’t about the joke anymore
In a free world, this kind of humor IS ok. In a free world, punching someone who doesn’t punch you first is NOT ok.
For me Gervais’ humour was fun. He is laughing at millionaires.
Does it mean that two wrongs make a right?
Never condone an act of violence. A moment of anger is no justification. We are adults and have to deal with moments like these in mature and productive ways. Chris Rock’s joke was not extremely offensive. Even if it was, Smith’ actions would not be justified.
His actions aren’t justified but the producers of the show made it a million times worse by acting like nothing happened. There should have been a huge commercial break until they figured out how to handle it. But they did nothing. Everything that happened after that was compromised. Questlove, the Godfather thing, none of us were paying attention. Even CODA’s win was tainted. They needed to chill the situation out before it went forward. Whoever made the decision to just let things proceed as normal, botched it.
I absolutely agree. Smith should have been removed.
offensive? you clearly never seen insult comedy. plus she isnt sick. she has a condition for hair loss due to STRESS. stop attacking the real victim.
Watched Cabaret the other day. To see Sally Bowles today breaks my heart.
Time passes for everyone.
If the ritual had been perpetuated that the previous Best Actress winner (Frances McDormand) hd presented Best Leading Actor; one can only imagine what the pardon the pun: pull no punches McDormand would have done in presenting Smith with his Oscar? Or would she be as gutless and hypocritical as the rest of the audience and celebrated him in the win and then his bulls#ht rationale.
I would like to think she might have called him out on it – that would be in her character.
I am pretty sure she said no to the gig. No reason why they invited the other 3 and gave McDormand the shaft.
I’m pretty sure McDormand decided not to attend. My suspicion is they moved things around in the very last minute. My suspicion is Halle Berry was expected to present Actor 20 years after her historic win, but she cancelled on Friday. So they asked the Pulp Fiction guys to present Actor. I suspect they had them for either Adapted Screenplay/Original Screenplay or Director.
So true. They have these random people like Tony Hawk and Christ Rock presenting awards.
it took 3 of them to replace Frances! Uma & Samuel & Travolta. I enjoyed seeing them; especially the dance!
What a train wreck. Smith finally got the Oscar he’s so desperately wanted for years and this is how he behaves!?!?!? I think he’s nuts, like alot of big Hollywood stars. Nuts with a massive ego, a terrible combination.
Why was Chris Rock even on that stage after he paraded around a group of Asian toddlers as circus animals solely to make fun of their race in front of a bunch of millionaires?
Why was he presenting. Period. But I did notice one thing about C-Rock: He’s had some face work done. Very smoothe skin, makes him look about 10 years younger.
One good thing about the slap was that it overshadowed the Best Picture win of the undeserving CODA !
Was GI Jane such a bad movie? I never saw it.
Well i wouldnt call it one of Ridley Scott’s best put it that way.
Oh, I found this tidbit about Smith & Rock at the NYPost:
Chris Rock and Will Smith’s beef started long before Oscars 2022 outburst.
In 2016, the stand-up comic hosted the Academy Awards, where both Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, were the butts of some pointed barbs.
Rock made fun of Pinkett Smith’s public avowal to boycott the show after another year of all-white acting nominees.
“Jada said she’s not coming. I was like, ‘Isn’t she on a TV show?’ Jada’s gonna boycott the Oscars? Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna’s panties. I wasn’t invited!” he quipped at the time.
Rock also poked fun at Smith, whose name had been bandied about as a possible Oscar nominee for his role in the film “Concussion.”
“Will was not nominated for ‘Concussion.’ I get it. You get mad. It’s not fair that Will was this good and didn’t get nominated. You’re right,” he said. “It’s also not fair that Will was paid $20 million for ‘Wild Wild West.’”
That was funny in 2016.
And there is a war happening right now. Get over yourselves and your fragile egos, Will and Jada. It’s shameful.
The 2016 bit was funny. Back then, Jada was obnoxious. To her, OscarSoWhite was about her husband not receiving a nod for a terrible performance. He wasn’t nominated because he didn’t deserve it. At least ten better performances were snubbed. But Jada made it look like a big snub. Please. And then started repeating that she would boycott the Oscars when nobody had invited her. The joke was spot-on and the audience loved it.
I like it. I think it is one of Ridley’s bottom handful of pictures but I’m a huge fan of his work and have seen GI Jane a bunch of times. It was slandered a lot on release in a way that wouldn’t be acceptable today, and among those oft-maligned 90s Demi Moore performances it is one of her more okay ones, I don’t think many other stars at that time could’ve really done the role justice.
Pretty Good film. The fight scene between demi Moore and Viggo Mortensen is one for the ages.
You see WS laughing, but Jada is definitely not amused. I’d love to know what she had to him when the cameras cut back to Chris Rock. Whatever it was, WS reacted quickly, decisively and toxically.
Will (and Jada) have been through a lot of shtyt this year but not excusing him. She lost her hair due to a rare disease and can’t grow hair, so she shaves it and has a scar. She did a video about it. and she was also openly accused of cheating on Will with a younger man about a year ago. Her lover came out and gave details about the affair. He has had to duck and dodge all kinds of gossip about that and deny they were in an open marriage. So stuff was simmering before the Oscars.
I also notice that with the Critics Award, Will gave high praises to the Williams sister and not once mentioned his “family.” He likes to come off as a “family” man in public, but obviously, there’s a lot of “unfamily” stuff going on with his family. I’m surprised they haven’t divorced.
None of this is news (at least not to me).
Yeh, but some people on this board may not know, esp. the Europeans.
I don’t actually follow the stars gossips, I follow their work.
Will has been a wreck for some time now. https://nypost.com/2022/03/28/will-smiths-wild-year-sex-reveals-to-crazy-oscars-outburst/
Same. 🙂
It is not so rare. 150 million people in the world have it. Imagine all 150 million of them unleashing violence on the world of nasty comedians calling them GI Janes. Why is GI Jane so offensive again?
I look forward to reading more analysis of this, Sasha, as well as the takeaways from the prizes themselves. It was a surreal moment as a viewer; someone who has watched a lot of shows and thought he knew what was shtick and what was real. The profanity and the violence jolted the entire vibe and for the rest of the show, alone in my living room, I was unsettled. I can only imagine what it might have been like in a full theatre. But the behaviour of the audience, the producers in how it was then managed is the more weighty subject to tackle as well as Smith’s abhorrent behaviour.
Should they have given Will Smith a standing ovation?
You’re going to be telling your great grandkids about this one.
It will make up for leaving early the year Moonlight won.