Chris Rock Gets Slapped by Will Smith

By Justin McDaniel

The “Will Smith incident” at the Academy Awards has been heavily debated around the world as well as at Kean University where  some students feel Chris Rock deserved the slap while others said it could’ve been handled in a more mature manner. 

On March 27, at the 94th Academy Awards show, Oscars presenter Chris Rock made a joke about the bald head of actor Will Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith,  referring to her as being the next “G.I. Jane”.  Smith bolted up to the stage and slapped Chris Rock across the face in defense of his wife. He then returned to his seat and, using an expletive that was dubbed over during the broadcast,  yelled out to Rock that he needs to keep his wife’s name out of his mouth.

 What some people didn’t know is that Will Smith’s wife suffers from alopecia, a medical condition that causes extreme hair loss and sometimes baldness. 

 The moment was shocking as nothing like this has ever happened at the Academy Awards before and it directed the attention from the event. Rock did not press charges while  Smith ended up winning the main award of the night “Best Male Actor” and gave a speech, which also received mixed reactions. 

“Since when do we not only allow but celebrate violence and a man attacking another man on stage in front of everyone including his own family, it’s disrespectful,”  English major Bryan Alvarez said. 

However, some said  Smith needed to stand up for his wife was something he should have done.

“As her husband, it’s his job to protect his wife from everything, so when he sees his wife in pain about something she can’t control like a disease I can see why he would react that way even though it was definitely not the right way to handle the situation,” communication major Johan Civil said. 

Since the incident,  all upcoming films with Will Smith have been put on pause and he has announced via his Instagram story that he will be resigning from his position at the Academy.  Yet some people are still waiting on The Academy to hand out a punishment for his actions. 

Shortly after the incident,  The Academy came out with a statement saying: “The Academy does not condone violence of any form. Tonight we are delighted to celebrate our 94th Academy Awards winners, who deserve this moment of recognition from their peers and movie lovers around the world.”

One student said he didn’t think it was right to even consider taking away Smith’s Oscar for Best Actor. 

“ I find it crazy that people like Harvey Weinstein and his company can still hold onto their 81 oscars but they possibly may take Will’s oscar for defending his wife.” communication major Johan Civil said. 

On April 18th the board will meet to discuss the consequences for Will Smith’s actions but it is highly unlikely that he gets his Oscar revoked as it has never happened before.

“As much as we cherish and respect Will Smith for all he has done, it’s clear his relationship with Jada Pinkett has its issues and it may just not work out but besides that, it’s obvious he needs help mentally,” accounting major  Ivorie Melendez said.  

Smith’s problems follow a year when he  and wife Jada were in the news over her  “entanglement”  with singer  August Alsina, which she discussed on her own talk show the “Red Table Talk.” The couple was criticized for airing their personal issues publicly.. Since then, things have died down but it seems as if  there are still issues between the couple. 

Will Smith said he has now committed to therapy and has apologized to The Academy and Rock for the smack.

It was an unfortunate night at a time when the Academy of Motion Pictures seems to have finally heard the voices of Black complaints about diversity, equity, and inclusion. Will Packer, who hosted, was the first Black man to direct the Academy Awards. Actor Samuel L. Jackson finally received an Oscar that as presented to him by Denzel Washington. Despite these great moments, no one was prepared for what was to come next.

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