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Jim Carrey addresses Will Smith smacking Chris Rock in the face!

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e do not condone violence." "Assault is never the answer." These words have echoed through all of my social media accounts since Will Smith slapped Chris Rock for making a poor-taste joke about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. The joke referenced Pinkett Smith's shaved head, a decision she made due to her struggles with the autoimmune disease alopecia.

Most people agree the slap shouldn't have happened. But there's something that feels precious at best, and downright racist at worst, about white people's reaction to the now-infamous smack. The Hollywood director Judd Apatow declared in a deleted tweet that Smith "could have killed" Rock (seriously?), calling it "​​pure out of control rage and violence". Apatow later confirmed he wasn't even watching the show when he made the remarks. The radio host Howard Stern compared Smith to Donald Trump, while white women on Twitter somehow decided that Smith's actions meant he must be beating his wife. It would seem that there's a layer of hyper-violence that's being projected on to Smith simply because he is a Black man who was defending his Black wife.

While it's justifiable - important, even - to interrogate his motives for delivering the slap (was this really all about defending his wife or more about his own ego?), it's clear that the backlash against Smith is rooted in not just anti-Blackness, but respectability politics as well.

It's also not just about what Smith did; it's where he did it and who was watching. Anyone who has been following these shows can see that Smith is being held up to much stricter standards than white men who have behaved just as badly or even worse in those settings. In 1973, John Wayne had to be restrained by six security guards when he tried to rush the stage and attack the Native American actor and activist Sacheen Littlefeather. Littlefeather was on stage to accept the best actor award on behalf of Marlon Brando, who was boycotting the awards in protest at Hollywood's depictions of Native Americans.

Wayne got to keep his awards after the incident, but pending a review, Smith could very well have his historic best actor win revoked. Mind you, this is the same academy that gave Roman Polanski an award in absentia after he pleaded guilty to a charge of unlawful sex with a minor and fled the country before he could be sentenced. The double standard is glaring.

I also find it hard to believe that the same white audiences who consume violence against Black people on screen to an almost fetishistic degree (and are quite happy to have the Academy reward these gratuitously violent projects year after year) are so distraught about an open-palm slap. Again, this kind of performative pearl-clutching is only ever reserved for Black men who mess up.

But white outrage isn't the only problem. For Black people who have been conditioned to constantly perform the most non-threatening version of themselves in order to retain white approval, the image of a Black man being "violent" in a space notorious for its overwhelming whiteness must have felt like an abomination. The ESPN commentator Stephen A Smith lambasted the actor on Twitter for " staining" the greatest moment of his career, before taking to a video to express his disappointment.

It's the Black Hollywood equivalent of being dragged to a corner and told off by your parents for "cutting up" in public and embarrassing your family. Except Smith isn't a child and the stakes here are much higher. Either way, it's clear that many people (even those in the community who mean well) only find the incident so objectionable because they hoped Smith would perform propriety for white people in that space.

But let's not forget why all this started in the first place. In case there was any confusion, alopecia is absolutely a disability, and one that Black women are more prone to. Whether or not Rock knew about Pinkett Smith's condition, the politics of Black women's hair is well known to be a historically fraught and often traumatising topic (he should know - he made a documentary about it in 2009).

Still, this kind of punching down on Black women remains typical of many Black male comedians who, like the rest of the world, don't see Black women's struggles and experiences as real or legitimate. And this lack of care for Black women also partly explains why people were so taken aback by the image of Smith standing up for his wife in that way. The world is so used to seeing Black women as unworthy of being protected and fought for that it can't see any merit to Smith's actions or the emotions that spurred them.

Smith has since apologised to Rock and the Academy, and this event will soon become just another wild story in our pop culture memory. But as we await the results of the Academy's investigation, what I hope will remain is the opportunity to truly question how society views Black men, what we see as disability, and who we see as worthy of protecting.

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White outrage about Will Smith's slap is rooted in anti-Blackness. It's inequality in plain sight | Tayo Bero

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This kind of performative pearl-clutching is only ever reserved for Black men who mess up, says Guardian US writer Tayo Bero

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In PR terms, actor Will Smith's slap across the face of comedian Chris Rock at the Academy Awards ceremony wasn't just bad, or really bad, it was "really really bad."

At least, according to veteran Hollywood publicist Michael Levine, who says Smith's actions, in the immediate future, have "deeply damaged" his career.

"If you're buying Will Smith stock right now. let's agree. Short term run, not good," said Levine, whose client list has included pop star Michael Jackson, former president Bill Clinton, musician David Bowie, and comedian Dave Chappelle.

Smith, 53, has starred in blockbuster hits including film franchises Bad Boys and Men in Black. His films, both live-action and animated, have grossed more than $9 billion globally, according to box office researcher Comscore.

But even as a newly minted Academy Award winner, his assault on Rock raises questions as to whether his actions will significantly impact his prospects.

"This is not a bullet that grazed his tiny left toe. I mean, this is close to the heart," Levine said. "Who the hell's going to raise their hand right at this moment in time to say, 'I know I want to make a Will Smith movie.'"

During the Oscars' ceremony last Sunday, Smith took to the stage after Rock made a joke about the hair of Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith's wife. Pinkett Smith, whose head is shaved, has spoken publicly about her alopecia diagnosis.

Smith slapped a stunned Rock across the face, went back to his seat, and yelled twice for Rock to "get my wife's name out your f--king mouth."
WATCH | Fallout from Will Smith's slap at the Oscars:

Smith remained at the ceremony, nominated for a best actor Oscar for his portrayal of Richard Williams, the father of tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams in the film King Richard. After winning, a tearful Smith apologized to the academy, but not Rock. The next day, however Smith made a more fulsome apology on social media, and this time included Rock.

Meanwhile, The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences met Wednesday to initiate disciplinary proceedings against Smith for violations against the group's standards of conduct.

Friday, Smith announced in a statement he had resigned from the academy and "will accept any further consequences the Board deems appropriate" and that his actions were "shocking, painful, and inexcusable."

Unlikely to avoid repercussions

As for the future of his career, however, crisis publicist Howard Bragman said it's unlikely he will be able to avoid repercussions.

"Will Smith, who had been Tom Hanks steady, had a Kanye moment at the Academy Awards that has raised all sorts of questions about his judgment and his career and will cause him to be dissected like a frog in a high school science project over the next days and weeks," Bragman told Rolling Stone magazine.

In a podcast with The Ankler, a Hollywood industry newsletter, Bragman added that Smith's career may now be defined as "'pre' this moment and 'after' this moment."

"It could really change things for him," he said.

Jeff Bock, senior media analyst at Exhibitor Relations Co., a Los Angeles firm which analyzes box office trends, agreed that Smith will have to take a "Hollywood timeout."

Gibson and Cruise controversies

That timeout could be similar to the career ramifications both Mel Gibson and Tom Cruise suffered after their controversial actions.

Gibson was blacklisted for a period following his anti-Semitic comments to a police officer in 2006 and, a few years later, for the racist comments he made on his then-girlfriend's answering machine that were subsequently released to the public.

In 2006, Paramount Pictures ended its relationship with Cruise after what was perceived to be some questionable behaviour, including his infamous Oprah Winfrey couch-jumping incident.

Cruise also drew negative attention for his condemnation of psychiatry and criticism of actress Brooke Shields for taking medication to deal with her postpartum depression. He was later involved in a tense interview with then-Today Show host Matt Lauer over the issue.

"It will be up to [Smith's] PR team to rebuild the Will Smith brand. And there's no doubt that that's going to take place over the next several months and the next couple of years," Bock said .

"I doubt any big studio or streamer is going to take a chance in signing Will Smith until those things happen, until that process is under way," he said.

'Take time for this to blow over'

Bock said he believes studios will steer clear of Smith, concerned about dealing with someone with potential anger issues, as well as wanting to avoid the onslaught of media focused specifically on the Oscars controversy.

"It's going to take time for this to blow over. There's no doubt."

Still, Bock said, some producer or studio will eventually take another chance on Smith.

"You don't become a box office star and just disappear," he said.

However Scott Mendelson, a box office analyst with Forbes magazine, said the incident may have done real damage in terms of Smith's worth in non-franchise films by shattering "a carefully crafted 30-year image of approachable, harmless and always-on movie star charisma."

As Mendelson notes in his piece, How Will Smith's Assault On Chris Rock Could Hurt His Career, Smith from around 2002 to 2008 was the biggest box office star on the planet.

That box office draw power, however, has dwindled. Although Smith is still a bankable star, but mostly in previously successful franchises ( Men in Black 3, Bad Boys For Life) or inherently commercial movies like Aladdin and Suicide Squad. Mendelson wrote.

Other films he has starred in have not fared as well at the box office.

"Will 'the slap' cost Will Smith his prestige to the point where he won't be all that useful in studio programmers and year-end awards flicks," Mendelson asks. "Smith may have trouble justifying his casting in anything other than surefire IP and sequels to prior glories."

As for comparisons to Gibson and Cruise, Mendelson suggested that while both have continued to work, their careers were permanently stained. Gibson has mostly been relegated to video on demand films. Cruise, meanwhile, is mostly only bankable for his Mission Impossible sequels, he wrote.

The new normal for Smith could be where he "gets to make movies, even big movies, but nothing akin to King Richard ... ever again," Mendelson wrote.

But, Bock noted, Smith has now won his Oscar. "He doesn't have anything more to prove."

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Will Smith's career may take a 'Hollywood timeout' after Oscars slap controversy | CBC News

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In PR terms, actor Will Smith's slap across the face of comedian Chris Rock at the Academy Awards ceremony wasn't just bad, or really bad, it was "really really bad." At least, according to veteran Hollywood publicist Michael Levine, who says Smith's actions, in the immediate future, have "deeply damaged" his career.

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Academy 'strongly considered' removing Will Smith from Oscars, source says

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Academy: Smith refused to leave Oscars, broke conduct code

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From the joke to the reaction on social media, the incident highlights the patriarchal attitudes that are still present in society today

The moment in which Will Smith tells Chris Rock: "Keep my wife's name out of your fucking mouth."

First came the joke and then the slap. But there was also the reaction from the audience, the speech, the cheers, the Academy's attitude, the response of Hollywood's elite at the post-gala party and the social media trends. All these elements suggest that part of society not only supports Will Smith for slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars, but celebrates him for it. The joke about Jada Pinkett Smith was overshadowed by violence. Those who disagree with Smith's actions, say "he flipped out," and go no further. But explaining it away as "flipping out" is what irrepressible desire is to sexual violence - a fallacy used to justify the aggression that only serves to diminish his responsibility and take focus away from the true origin of what happened on that stage: sexism.

Chris Rock is 57 years old and has been working in entertainment for 38, while 53-year-old Smith has been in the business for 35 years. That's a lot of red carpets, interviews and awards ceremonies, among other situations in which one may feel tempted to slap someone. But it happened on Sunday night on the stage of the most important awards in cinema, the space that creates the culture that nourishes and molds society. What's behind these actions? Many symbols of the patriarchy. Here's a breakdown of all the sexist elements of the confrontation.

1. The joke

After referring to Spanish actors Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz as "Javier Bardem and his wife," Chris Rock - who is on stage to present the award for Best Documentary Feature - looks at Jada Pinkett, who is married to Will Smith and sitting at his side, and says: "Jada, I love you. GI Jane 2, can't wait to see it." The joke is a reference to the 1997 movie GI Jane, starring Demi Moore as Jordan O'Neil, a character who shaves her head to cement her status as a Navy Seal.

Much has been written about the limits of humor. It's important to keep freedom of expression at the forefront of these discussions, but this was an instance of body-shaming. Rock made a joke about the physical appearance of a woman who didn't decide to shave her head, but rather suffers an autoimmune disease that causes hair loss. Pinkett has spoken publicly about her struggle with alopecia, bringing visibility to a condition that afflicts 30% of all women at some point in their lives and 55% of women over 70.

Was it necessary? Did Rock intend to support Pinkett in some way? And, if so, could he have chosen another way to do it? Did the presenter think the reference to Demi Moore's character was accurate? On the surface, OʼNeil is a strong, tough woman who uses those qualities to maintain her position as a Navy Seal. She becomes accepted by the men when she behaves like them, mirroring their verbal and physical violence. Only when she tells her instructor, "suck my dick," does she truly join the boy's club.

The moment when Will Smith slaps Chris Rock at the Academy Awards. reuters

Rock, and those who wrote, reviewed and approved that script, decided that humor was more important than being sensitive about Pinkett's disease. And they failed to analyze the emotional and psychological impact that alopecia can have.

Hair loss is an issue that concerns both men and women. But for women, it also comes with additional social pressures created centuries ago by male artists. Hair connoted - and still connotes - health, femininity, identity and beauty. In the past, it has been a symbol of wealth and social status, and even today, it remains a marker of gender. In the foreword to Hair Stories, art consultant Emily Lambert-Clements writes: "Still today, it is seen by both men and women as a sign of female sexual identity."

Mar Venegas, a sociology professor at the University of Granada in southern Spain, points to "the ongoing eroticization that long hair brings." In an academic paper on alopecia, published almost two decades ago, the authors wrote: "Regardless of its appearance or structure, a woman's hair plays an essential role in her image and is considered one of her most important physical attributes. Specialists recognize that women take on this issue [hair loss] with as much concern or more, if possible, than men. It produces a lack of self-esteem, insecurity and withdrawal."

2. The reaction

At no point did Pinkett laugh at the joke. Smith did, at first. It is only later - or so it seems, because the video shows a few seconds of silence - when he sees her, already upset and focused on by the cameras, when he gets up, walks calmly to the stage and slaps Rock with his hand open. The presenter blurts out: "Wow, Will Smith just slapped the shit out of me." Smith returns to his place, straightening his tuxedo vest. Once seated, the actor yells twice: "Keep my wife's name out of your fucking mouth!"

Did he do it because he was offended by the joke or because he felt some responsibility for Pinkett's discomfort at his laughter? Did he slap Rock for what he had said or to make amends for his own reaction? Did it have to do with Pinkett's pain or how he looked on camera laughing at the joke? Was it just sexism or was it also ego? Amparo Tomé, a Spanish sociologist and researcher specializing in feminism, says that "in any case, the one who could get up to say something, if she wanted to, was her. The violence should never have occurred, but to say something in reply, it should have been her, not him."

If Smith hadn't gotten up, Pinkett's face would have been enough to open a debate about the appropriateness of jokes about illness. Rock would have been the focus of that discussion. But Smith got up.

Author Octavio Salazar analyzed Smith's actions in a column published Monday in this newspaper, writing: "Will Smith's reaction to an unfortunate joke by Chris Rock contains all the elements of the model of masculinity that continues today to be the main obstacle against building a world without gender inequality, where violence is no longer legitimized. A violence that is connected to power, to the omnipotence in which men have been socialized and to the assumption that there is no better way of managing conflict than resorting to force. Violence still remains for many a mechanism for reaffirming virility and restoring supposedly lost honor."

In this case, the honor lost is that of a 50-year-old adult woman, who this aggression infantilizes. Smith's actions turn her into a vulnerable subject who needs protection that only a man can offer her.

3. The speech

Will Smith with his Oscar for Best Actor.

Shortly after slapping Rock, Smith returns to the stage to collect the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance in King Richard, a biopic about the lives of champion tennis players Serena and Venus Williams, with their father as the protagonist. In her review of the movie, EL PAÍS journalist Eva Güimil writes: "From the feel-good story that they want us to swallow, I only extract one lesson: that Serena and Venus became two of the best tennis players in history not thanks to their father, but despite him." Will Smith, however, is of a different opinion. In his two-minute-long acceptance speech, he says: "Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family." Smith apologizes for his behavior, but only to the Academy and his colleagues - not to Rock or Pinkett. Some members of the audience also cheer and applaud him.

"I'm being called on in my life to love people and to protect people and to be a river to my people. I know to do what we do, you gotta be able to take abuse, and you gotta be able to have people talk crazy about you. In this business, you gotta be able to have people disrespecting you and you gotta smile and you gotta pretend like that's OK. ... I want to be an ambassador of that kind of love and care and concern. I want to apologize to the Academy, I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees. ... I look like the crazy father, just like they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things," says Smith.

Explaining violence as love, and the protection derived from that love, is "nonsense," Tomé says. It is a common argument of abusers: I killed her because I loved her, because she was mine. The latest report on Spanish youth found that more than half of teenagers between 15 and 19 years old in Spain still believe that they should protect their girlfriends.

This idea of love underlies and sustains toxic relationships: it involves seeing the other as a material possession to be controlled. "It's everything that it seemed we'd unlearned from the myths of romantic love," adds the sociologist. "Care is to social life what water is to physical life. The world cannot function without water, nor can society without care," she adds. But love and care are the opposite of violence.

4, 5 and 6. The stalls, the Academy and the afterparty

Nobody walks out. No one even hints at it. There were faces of shock and surprise. Some laughed; others grimaced. But no one in their speech condemned what had just happened - except for actor Anthony Hopkins' tepid call for "peace and love" when he presented Jessica Chastain with the Oscar for Best Actress. And no one stops Smith from picking up his award as if he hadn't just slapped Rock in front of millions of spectators, nor from going to the Vanity Fair afterparty.

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.
- The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 28, 2022

Following the incident, the Academy only published a tweet in which it claimed to condemn violence "in all its forms." Journalists were later requested not to ask about the matter. No one wanted to make any statements. The next day, the Academy published a statement condemning Will Smith's act of violence and announcing a "formal investigation" into the matter.

But to attempt to rationalize the violence is to accept it. "After the last few years, the #MeToo movement, what has been worked on, in the end, things have not changed as much as we think," says Venegas. "And there are certain things that are tradition in the Oscars. There are certain behaviors that are understood as unlikely to be condemned."

7. Social media

"Will and Chris" and "Will Smith" have been trending topics on Twitter since the awards ceremony on Sunday night. But on Monday morning, another hashtag went viral in Spain: "Grande Will" or "good job, Will." Using this hashtag, men and women, though mostly men, published messages in support of Will Smith. "From today on, my respect and solidarity with Will Smith. RESPECT. Don't expect a hug and congratulations if your wife is made fun of. The place doesn't matter. Grande Will Smith." Another user wrote: "Will Smith proving not only that he is a top actor, but also that he is human and reacts to comments in bad taste about his wife. No matter how famous you are, you are human, and everything has limits, and respect comes first. Grande Will!!"

That social response, explains Venegas, "is a reflection of how strongly the reaction to feminism and the desire to recover a model of masculinity that has been questioned is taking hold. All this work continues to be overshadowed by ups and downs. Some are more aware, but the anti-feminist ideology is also present. We are returning to the model of a protective man and weak and defenseless woman."

Weak and defenseless women do not argue; they do not protest; they do not fight - with analysis, data, words and theories - for what belongs to them. They keep quiet. Toxic masculinity, as recognized in Will Smith, depends on that stereotype to exist. "Hopefully, in the best of cases, the example of Will Smith will have an educational effect and trigger a current of discomfort and criticism among men. A kind of reverse #MeToo movement," writes Salazar. If only.

For the time being, the Academy Awards have gone a few years back in time. Jaden Smith, one of Will Smiths' sons, posted a terse message on Twitter: "And That's How We Do It."

That was how his grandfather, Will Smith's father, did it. In his memoir, published a few months ago, the actor wrote: "When I was nine years old, I watched my father punch my mother in the side of her head so hard that she collapsed. I saw her spit blood. That moment in that bedroom, probably more than any other moment in my life, has defined who I am." This is exactly how violence works: it is learned.

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More information

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Anatomy of a slap: Seven sexist elements of Will Smith and Chris Rock's confrontation

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From the joke to the reaction on social media, the incident highlights the patriarchal attitudes that are still present in society today First came the joke and then the slap. But there was also the reaction from the audience, the speech, the cheers, the Academy's attitude, the response of Hollywood's elite at the post-gala party and the social media trends.

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Will Smith slap: ‘I’d put him in the same boat as Meghan Markle’ says Megyn Kelly