Oscars, anyone watching?

She's at an awards ceremony where this happens every single year. I'm sure the $140,000 swag bag helped to make up for it.
You need to look up the definition of "blindsided"

What is missing from this conversation...hmmm...oh yes, Jada's opinion. You seem to be well versed in what SHE is thinking, even though she hasn't said a single word about it herself. Will Smith was offended, he slapped the guy...that's what this is about. Focus on his actions not on what you're making up Jada thinks.

Here’s the latest. Shaking head.

“ Will Smith at this point is completely broken.
He is not the bad guy here.

Jada is pulling all the strings.

She broke down his masculinity on television during a talk about why she cheated on him. Her excuse was “If he loved me enough he would’ve known”.

I think that Will Smith whole heartedly did not care about the joke Chris Rock made at the Oscars, but Jada looks over at Will once the camera pans away, as if to say
“if you dont stand up for me, this is why i cheated”

Keep toxic women out of your life because it can turn nice dudes into monsters”

I'm actually stunned that anyone is defending Will Smith.

Tasteless joke (at an awards ceremony that is famous for them - has anyone ever even seen what Ricky Gervais says? Don Rickles made an entire career out of this) - not a fan of this from Chris Rock.

But it's okay to slap someone for it? Either we condemn toxic masculinity or we condone it. I'm not sure there are grey areas here (obviously self defense is not a grey area).

Both guys fucked up - one worse. I appreciated the fact that Will Smith apologized - I didn't think he would.

Why? She can't speak up for herself? Are we in the dark ages when men had to ride out on horses to defend a lady's honor? She's got a podcast where she speaks her voice and I'm quite sure she would be able to say something there.  It makes me wonder what other anger issues Will may have, to walk up onto that stage and do that in front of the world. 

link?

Looking for the other one I saw 9n Twitter that someone posted as a reply.

I'm wading in late, but this is where I stand.  And Ricky Gervais was the first person I thought of.  He makes me laugh, but he also makes me cringe at times because he can be so brutal.


Actually, when I first heard about this whole thing, I thought it was a compliment - I thought the GI Jane reference was related to fit & fierce, not shaved head.  

I agree with you. This whole incident tarnished the night for the film.  I also feel sorry for the people who had their acceptance speech right after the incident because I am sure no one was paying attention to them. It took away from their win as well. 

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: "When Will Smith stormed onto the Oscar stage to strike Chris Rock for making a joke about his wife's short hair, he did a lot more damage than just to Rock's face. With a single petulant blow, he advocated violence, diminished women, insulted the entertainment industry, and perpetuated stereotypes about the Black community. That's a lot to unpack. Let's start with the facts: Rock made a reference to Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, as looking like Demi Moore in 'G.I. Jane,' in which Moore had shaved her head. Jada Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia, which causes hair loss. Ok, I can see where the Smiths might not have found that joke funny. But Hollywood awards shows are traditionally a venue where much worse things have been said about celebrities as a means of downplaying the fact that it's basically a gathering of multimillionaires giving each other awards to boost business so they can make even more money. The Smiths could have reacted by politely laughing along with the joke or by glowering angrily at Rock. Instead, Smith felt the need to get up in front of his industry peers and millions of people around the world, hit another man, then return to his seat to bellow: 'Keep my wife's name out of your fucking mouth.' Twice. Some have romanticized Smith's actions as that of a loving husband defending his wife. Comedian Tiffany Haddish, who starred in the movie 'Girls Trip' with Pinkett Smith, praised Smith's actions: '[F]or me, it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen because it made me believe that there are still men out there that love and care about their women, their wives.' Actually, it was the opposite. Smith's slap was also a slap to women. If Rock had physically attacked Pinkett Smith, Smith's intervention would have been welcome. Or if he'd remained in his seat and yelled his post-slap threat, that would have been unnecessary, but understandable. But by hitting Rock, he announced that his wife was incapable of defending herself—against words. From everything I'd seen of Pinkett Smith over the years, she's a very capable, tough, smart woman who can single-handedly take on a lame joke at the Academy Awards show. This patronizing, paternal attitude infantilizes women and reduces them to helpless damsels needing a Big Strong Man to defend their honor least they swoon from the vapors. If he was really doing it for his wife, and not his own need to prove himself, he might have thought about the negative attention this brought on them, much harsher than the benign joke. That would have been truly defending and respecting her. This 'women need men to defend them' is the same justification currently being proclaimed by conservatives passing laws to restrict abortion and the LGBTQ+ community. Worse than the slap was Smith's tearful, self-serving acceptance speech in which he rambled on about all the women in the movie 'King Richard' that he's protected. Those who protect don't brag about it in front of 15 million people. They just do it and shut up. You don't do it as a movie promotion claiming how you're like the character you just won an award portraying. But, of course, the speech was about justifying his violence. Apparently, so many people need Smith's protection that occasionally it gets too much and someone needs to be smacked. What is the legacy of Smith's violence? He's brought back the Toxic Bro ideal of embracing Kobra Kai teachings of 'might makes right' and 'talk is for losers.' Let's not forget that this macho John Wayne philosophy was expressed in two movies in which Wayne spanked grown women to teach them a lesson. Young boys—especially Black boys—watching their movie idol not just hit another man over a joke, but then justify it as him being a superhero-like protector, are now much more prone to follow in his childish footsteps. Perhaps the saddest confirmation of this is the tweet from Smith's child Jaden: 'And That’s How We Do It.' The Black community also takes a direct hit from Smith. One of the main talking points from those supporting the systemic racism in America is characterizing Blacks as more prone to violence and less able to control their emotions. Smith just gave comfort to the enemy by providing them with the perfect optics they were dreaming of. Many will be reinvigorated to continue their campaign to marginalize African Americans and others through voter suppression campaign. As for the damage to show business, Smith's violence is an implied threat to all comedians who now have to worry that an edgy or insulting joke might be met with violence. Good thing Don Rickles, Bill Burr, or Ricky Gervais weren't there. As comedian Kathy Griffin tweeted: 'Now we all have to worry about who wants to be the next Will Smith in comedy clubs and theaters.' The one bright note is that Chris Rock, clearly stunned, managed to handle the moment with grace and maturity. If only Smith's acceptance speech had shown similar grace and maturity—and included, instead of self-aggrandizing excuses, a heartfelt apology to Rock."

I hope will smiths career tanks into the toilet for this. I’m sick to death of the celebrities doing anything they can to get a little bit of extra attention. I hope his Oscar is taken away from him and I hope he never gets another acting job. Nothing Chris rock did deserved him getting out of his damn chair and going up on stage in front of millions of people and slapping somebody. He did it for attention, plain and simple.

The Oscars committees are cheering this because it saved their stupid program from going into the crapper. This was the lowest rated Oscar ever other than this debacle.

I only watched a tiny bit of his acceptance speech. Once it became clear that he was not going to apologize for what he did, and instead was going to cry about his win I was out. Here he was, accepting an award for portraying a (real live) kind and non physically confrontational man, after just smacking the hell out of a guy on front of millions of people. It felt forced and fake to me. No thank you.

Again, I’m not defending him. I don’t condone violence.

I cannot not will assume what Jada thinks, at all, their relationship/marriage dynamic is not any of my business or concern.

You’re changing what I stated—I’m not saying nor implying that I need or any woman needs a man to be that knight in shining armor stuff—

In my life, I am fully capable of standing up and speaking my mind, and at the same time, knowing my hubby has my back just makes it all the better—it’s empowering to know that you’re cared for and loved and that your spouse S/O “has you”.


It would have been awesome if Jada would have taken Chris down a notch. Sometimes power is in silence. I don’t know why she didn’t speak. Maybe she’s pissed that her husband did what he did. Maybe she thought that this wasn’t the place—women have been labeled as “hysterical” if they push back. Who knows.

I’ve spoken from my soapbox—I’m tired of women being degenerated in the way they have been, and I’ve only seen it ramping up—looking at a bigger picture and not just at the Oscars.

See…this is what I’m talking about—if women speak a certain way—it’s considered toxic, stay away from them…

But if a man speaks of a woman in the same manner or worse, it’s funny.