Oscars 2022: Will Smith Punches Chris Rock, Goes Nuts Before Winning Best Actor

[Paul MacLean]

Thank God it was a scuffle between two men of the same race. Had it been a black man and a white man, could you imagine the headlines?

"Chris Rock victim of hate crime at Oscar ceremony! Comedian shows integrity and shrugs it off."

"White colonizer makes racist joke at Jada Pinkett Smith's expense! Heroic husband Will defends her honor and stands up for all marginalized races!"

[AndyDursin]

That would be the reaction...but thankfully it seems the Academy is coming around, apologizing to Rock in a statement they just released.

They also asked Smith to leave and he refused.

The remedy for this is simple: ban him from future ceremonies. That's it. There's no other remedy. The guy pissed all over that show and everyone who won.

[Eric W.]

Chris Rock really looks awesome coming out of this. People can't get over how he really did turn the other cheek, showed poise, grace, humor, and just somehow tried to keep the show rolling. It was impressive to see how he handled it. I heard today that his comedy show ticket sales are up 60 percent. Good for him.

[Eric W.]

https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/w ... he-academy

[AndyDursin]

Amazing what a few days and focus group replies will do for you. That's the reaction he shouldve had when he won the Oscar.

[Paul MacLean]

Like most people, I found "the slapping incident" a bit shocking. But to be honest, Will Smith is barely on my radar at all (honestly, I haven't seen anything starring Smith since Men in Black).

Beyond that, the Oscars have been an irrelevant waste of time for years already, so I'm not really here nor there about any of this.

[AndyDursin]

Sure it's not 9/11 but someone like Smith going up on stage and slapping a standup comic is an image that's going to last, well, forever. He's never going to live that down. It also, in this nutty time we are living in, says something about physical violence in a way that is profoundly negative when viewed in a larger context. It really sums up the last couple of years with rising crime and assaults all over our major cities...even on this smaller, isolated scale, here's your Best Actor winner unable to control himself on the biggest night of his career? How pathetic and sad. He soiled himself and ruined the night for every other winner with his actions. Younger people look up to Smith...what precedent is he going to set, that it's ok to hurt someone based on the words they are using? What a bad look. That he hardly looked sorry in the moment, stayed to give an acceptance speech, carried on and partied the night away only adds to where he's at.

There aren't a lot of "stars" left but he's one of them. And he did himself an incalculable amount of career damage last Sunday.

[Paul MacLean]

It really sums up the last couple of years with rising crime and assaults all over our major cities...even on this smaller, isolated scale, here's your Best Actor winner unable to control himself on the biggest night of his career? How pathetic and sad. He soiled himself and ruined the night for every other winner with his actions. Younger people look up to Smith...what precedent is he going to set, that it's ok to hurt someone based on the words they are using

I fully agree it is emblematic of the "mean words are a form of violence" mindset, which has increased in recent years (and the attitude that physical violence is an "appropriate" response to mere words).

I guess where I'm coming from is that I never found Smith an especially unique entertainer, and almost nothing he's appeared in interests me, so I'm not engaged in the fate of his career. Plus the Oscars themselves have become so immaterial. (What movie did Smith win for again? I honestly forgot!)

[John Johnson]

Banned for 10 years.

https://variety.com/2022/awards/news/os ... 235228010/

[AndyDursin]

Sounds about right.

[Eric W.]

This might be the end of his career. It's certainly a deathblow of sorts and a major tarnish. Too bad.

[mkaroly]

I don't think it will be the end of his career...I am surprised that more people haven't come out against JPS for her reaction. Or is that wrong to say?