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Totally OT - Will Smith vs. Chris Rock

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Where do you stand re Will Smith slapping Chris Rock?
There is no justification and Smith was wrong period. - 54.2% - 13 votes
I disagree with the act but have some sympathy for Smith due to the circumstances. - 25.0% - 6 votes
Smith was right. Rock needed to be b-slapped for what he did. - 20.8% - 5 votes
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Posted 4/1/2022 11:28 AM (GMT 0)
I agree with Kareem Abdul-Jabar. Martial artists live by a code of conduct that forbids such displays of overt violence over such specious attachment to face, Kareem has been a perfect spokesman for us in this regard.

Just last week I walked away from a serious provocation, despite my anger at a careless driver who nearly hit me (I was walking with my Lab) and was belligerent in their arrogant self-righteousness.
Posted 4/1/2022 2:58 PM (GMT 0)
Surprised to see people on here OK with assault. So if you deem the joke to be insensitive and bad you are able to take physical action against the joketeller? Really? How about you use your words against the joketeller? Sorry, but if you commit violence against another you should have the weight of the law come down on you. Smith was wrong 100%.
Posted 4/1/2022 3:04 PM (GMT 0)
Sorry gang,

But this Bronx Street Kid does not buy it, whatsoever. To me, it was as staged as a professional wrestling match.

Sheer BS!

NJ Fred
Posted 4/1/2022 3:43 PM (GMT 0)

NJFred said...
To me, it was as staged as a professional wrestling match.

You know, if you look at it, Chris Rock *does* seem to stick his head out/lean forward a little just before he gets slapped! They are actors after all.

smile
Posted 4/1/2022 4:35 PM (GMT 0)
I'm not one to follow conspiracy theories, but the slap sound was loud, as if there was an effort to make it heard.
Posted 4/1/2022 5:27 PM (GMT 0)
This appears to (Potentially) be a serious career limiting move on the part of Will Smith.

No, it wasn't ok. The joke was in poor taste, and the response totally inappropriate. However, par for the course in today's society.
Posted 4/1/2022 5:45 PM (GMT 0)

Your Friend said...
I'm not one to follow conspiracy theories, but the slap sound was loud, as if there was an effort to make it heard.

Chris Rock was miked up, just below where he got smacked. You can see the microphone in the video.
Posted 4/2/2022 2:41 AM (GMT 0)
tin foil hat alert whoop whoop!

smith was wrong, and he knows it.
Posted 4/2/2022 4:32 AM (GMT 0)
Smith resigned from the Academy. Not sure what the implications are, but it would seem it takes the pressure off of them.

Maybe...

Mel
Posted 4/2/2022 9:35 AM (GMT 0)
I’m with Fred. It looked fake the first time I saw it. No one since Ali has anticipated the punch/slap better than Rock did. Thus he knew it was coming. And I didn’t even get the joke as I didn’t remember GI Jane. They are just punking us and laughing out loud at how lathered up so many people have become.

And if Fred and I and others are wrong and Will actually was enraged then he was a wuss for just slapping Chris. Real men don’t slap…..use a fist or don’t get out of the chair. As for me, I remember what my mother taught me “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”. Seems in today’s society that is no longer taught or understood.
Posted 4/2/2022 12:09 PM (GMT 0)
I think it was real.there was a lot of rage in his eyes when he sat down and yelled at Rock to keep his wife’s name out of his mouth. Yeah I know, they are actors. But they way things are playing out this is really going to hurt Will Smiths career, and he had to know that was going to happen. No way he’d purposely submarine himself for a joke.

Also, after giving it some thought, I retract my earlier comment that Smith was justified. Assuming it was real, it was a crime, as well as being a wrong example to set for his fans
Posted 4/2/2022 1:26 PM (GMT 0)
I share your sentiments, Pratoman. Good call.
Posted 4/2/2022 2:22 PM (GMT 0)
Physical violence is never justified to use against words from someone at a distance.
Posted 4/2/2022 2:52 PM (GMT 0)
What an interesting thread. I never thought a guy defending his wife's honor with a b-slap on a guy who maybe had it coming would generate such interest here and on the news. I wish I still had the testosterone to complete such an act if I thought it was warranted.

Both of these guys are so wealthy they will be okay regardless of the fallout. I'm not feeling sorry for either of them. Ironically, it has been a great publicity generator for the Oscars, which have been declining.

Also, words can sometimes be far more damaging than anything else.

Peace, and have a good weekend. 🙂
Posted 4/2/2022 2:59 PM (GMT 0)
FWIW, the Los Angeles Times reports on a poll run to determine public sentiment on the right and wrong of this thing, and here are some of the findings:

"In a survey of 1,319 Americans, YouGov found 61% of respondents considered Will Smith "wrong to hit Chris Rock after his joke" (only 21% said he wasn't wrong, with 19% not sure."

" ... 59% of U.S. adults said it is "not ever OK to hit someone for something they said."

"The widest gaps in the results found that 72% of those 65 and older considered Smith wrong, but only 46% of 18- to 34-year-olds did so (with 27% of that younger group considering Smith in the right)."

" ... they (the public) overwhelmingly believe Smith should not be stripped of the Oscar he won that night (70% to 16%)."

"56.5% of women saying Rock was more wrong, compared to 47.6% of men."

The survey then goes on with further opinion breakdowns, based, curiously, on respondent political affiliation, income level, and educational level. (Click and read below if you are interested).

Again, FWIW.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/celebrity/who-was-in-the-wrong-in-the-will-smith-slap-of-chris-rock-lets-go-to-the-polls/ar-aavdpl9?ocid=uxbndlbing
Posted 4/2/2022 3:20 PM (GMT 0)

JNF said...
I’m with Fred. It looked fake the first time I saw it. No one since Ali has anticipated the punch/slap better than Rock did. Thus he knew it was coming. And I didn’t even get the joke as I didn’t remember GI Jane. They are just punking us and laughing out loud at how lathered up so many people have become.

And if Fred and I and others are wrong and Will actually was enraged then he was a wuss for just slapping Chris. Real men don’t slap…..use a fist or don’t get out of the chair. As for me, I remember what my mother taught me “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”. Seems in today’s society that is no longer taught or understood.

so why would they stage it? to make everyone hate will smith? drum up sympathy for rock? sorry i just don't see it
Posted 4/2/2022 6:48 PM (GMT 0)
It has everyone talking doesn’t it? Oscars was toast from viewership over the last several years and needed a boost…..and got it. Now Will resigns from the Academy,,,but do you have to be a member-her to win an Oscar? Nobody knows, but everyone is talking about it.
Posted 4/2/2022 7:50 PM (GMT 0)

JNF said...
It has everyone talking doesn’t it? Oscars was toast from viewership over the last several years and needed a boost…..and got it. Now Will resigns from the Academy,,,but do you have to be a member-her to win an Oscar? Nobody knows, but everyone is talking about it.

will smith is worth $350m and is in demand as a hollywood lead man. hell he won an oscar the night he slapped rock, and then resigned from the resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences!

smith is involved in many other lucrative projects and he is a family man. smith probably does not care for rock because he has been the butt of rock's jokes in the past.

i think will smith snapped and regrets it

bottom line is the outburst has hurt smith's career but he will move past it. he has already apologized and he will lower his profile for awhile and then it will be business as usual
Posted 4/2/2022 7:56 PM (GMT 0)
now, if rock had rushed will smith after smith won his oscar and slapped him i might be tempted to don my alcoa beanie hahaha
Posted 4/2/2022 8:32 PM (GMT 0)
Mattman was on the money. Anybody uses a member of my family, be it wife or daughters, to better their performance better brace themselves. What happened to rock was nothing. The bs about turn the other cheek don't cut it.
Posted 4/4/2022 1:47 PM (GMT 0)
I don't see where another woman has chimed in here, so I will. I would have been MORTIFIED had my husband behaved that way. Nothing anyone could have said about me would have been as embarrassing as having my husband behave like a neanderthal in front of God and everybody. It would have been fine for him to talk to the man after the fact and even demand an apology, but resorting to violence is not OK.

I, of course, do not speak for all women. Some women may have found that chivalrous. I've always liked watching Will Smith act, and he seems like a nice enough guy. But, IMHO, this was a toxic act that did not do anything but make Will Smith look like a fool.

Donna
Posted 4/4/2022 2:34 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Donna

I will chime in (obvious I’m a female with the forum name Girlie)

Will was (is) an idiot - his response was uncalled for.
Chris Rock is a comedian - that’s what they do!!

Chris could (likely he won’t) press charges for assault.
Posted 4/4/2022 3:33 PM (GMT 0)
Great input from the ladies. Men take note. Question for the ladies, what would you have wanted Will to do?
Posted 4/4/2022 6:27 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, JNF,

I would have expected him to take his cue from me. If the joke was at my expense, then he should look to me. I most likely would have told him to let it go. My husband knows me well enough to know that I abhor violence. He also knows that I think the more you stir $#!+ the more it stinks. The less said/done, the better. He might have talked to him anyway, but he also knows that making a public spectacle of me would be out of bounds.

Maybe, Will Smith knows Jada, and what he did is what she would have wanted. Not knowing them, it's hard to say. If someone were physically threatening me, I know my husband would have my back. But, I can brush off words, and life goes on.

Donna.
Posted 4/4/2022 6:56 PM (GMT 0)
What ever happened to “Sticks ‘n stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me?” I guess that was a lie lol. Anyway…

I lost a lot of respect for Will Smith. Not for what he did. But that smirk on his face after the incident tells me everything I need to know about his character.

He hit a man when the man he hit couldn’t hit back. He knew it when he left his chair. He knew it when he walked up the stage. He knew it when he did it and from the look on his face he knew it walking off of the stage.

If you’re gonna hitt a man, at least be man enough to do it when you know the man can hit back.
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