Will Smith smack down

[Stream Hawk]

I’d love to hear some folks opinion on the big incident at the Oscars last night. While I think it’s already a little overplayed, there is still a lot to unpack.

In my opinion, Will Smith was out of line. I realize Chris Rock’s comments were also too far, but he is a freaking comedian. He can get ruthless, personal, and Will was laughing (seemingly) hysterically until Jada was not. And then dropping those two loud F bombs was way, way too far. Many kids were watching, and physical violence is never how you should respond in those situations.

[curmudgeon]

Great acting………

[Stream Hawk]

Ha ha, no way. That was too much passion out of Smith heckling at Rock after the hit. And his overly emotional acceptance speech, police and Academy inquiries, etc.

[RiverDog]

To be honest, I never have, and never will, watch the Oscars. I have about as much interest in watching the Oscars as I do the World Series of Poker.

But from the clips, it's obvious that Smith was way out of line. Having been involved in one or two incidents like that over my lifetime, you handle those situations in the alley or on the railroad tracks, one-on-one. Smith should have just gotten up, said 'If you have the balls, I'll meet you outside" or something like that, and walked out. It was what we used to call a sucker punch.

[Aseahawkfan]

I'm not sure what stress Will Smith was under to make him go that far, but it was surprising as he would be one of the last guys I expect to do that. I imagine as much as his wife puts up a strong face in public, it's a hard thing to lose your hair as a woman. Jada has always been physically beautiful. I remember watching her in movies growing up seeing how beautiful she was. I imagine losing your hair and aging is hard on her. She has alopecia and has probably told Will how much this change bothers her and he has probably taken that to heart. So when he saw her publicly called out and embarrassed, he reacted very emotionally. And her and him been through a ton of weird crap with her yapping too much about their affairs, yet he's stuck by her after 23 years when it's obvious Will Smith could have left. Not like Will would have any problem finding another beautiful wife. So I guess he just lost it at the wrong moment in his life. He was in the wrong, but whatever. Over and done.

I have to say Chris Rock handled it as well as you can handle something like that. You can tell he was surprised. He soldiered up, said the show must go on, and made a joke and carried on. Chris Rock gained a lot of respect for handling it so well. Rock has always been a very no BS, hard working guy. I watched Rock since he was playing some mailroom guy in Boomerang and a crack addict in New Jack City. He's come a long way. He's a consummate showman at this point. He can handle some big guy losing it on him in front of millions and play it off and go on.

Chris Rock stock went up.

Will Smith stock went down. But Will's stock is so high at this point, no one will notice after a short time. Hopefully he controls his temper in the future. Not a good look for Will. Very surprising.

[Aseahawkfan]

To be honest, I never have, and never will, watch the Oscars. I have about as much interest in watching the Oscars as I do the World Series of Poker.

But from the clips, it's obvious that Smith was way out of line. Having been involved in one or two incidents like that over my lifetime, you handle those situations in the alley or on the railroad tracks, one-on-one. Smith should have just gotten up, said 'If you have the balls, I'll meet you outside" or something like that, and walked out.

I love watching poker.

Oscars not so much. Hollyweird handing out awards and pushing their agenda on us all not worth my time.

[c_hawkbob]

Will Smith was out of line, 2 demerits. But he apologized, 1 brownie point.

Chris Rock was out of line, and I think he still owes Jada an apology. 1 demerit. He'll get his brownie point for handling it like a man when he does apologize. I don't care if you are a comedian, medical conditions are only fair territory when they are your own.

[I-5]

Will's stock is so high at this point, no one will notice after a short time. Hopefully he controls his temper in the future. Not a good look for Will. Very surprising.

I think this will probably colour public perception of Will Smith for the rest of his career. Nothing that violent has ever happened on live TV that I can think, so if it starts a bad trend then he will be even more remembered for it. I think it's clear he has more demons than a simple bad joke would have elicited such an extreme response, not to mention the verbal abuse after the slap. I hope he is getting help.

[Aseahawkfan]

I think this will probably colour public perception of Will Smith for the rest of his career. Nothing that violent has ever happened on live TV that I can think, so if it starts a bad trend then he will be even more remembered for it. I think it's clear he has more demons than a simple bad joke would have elicited such an extreme response, not to mention the verbal abuse after the slap. I hope he is getting help.

I don't believe this at all. Striking others in the workplace between celebrities was far more common when I was growing up. There are legendary tales of Bill Murray's drunken violence and he's had an amazing career. Sean Penn used to get real violent earlier in his career and he's done fine. Will will have to take some lumps as the world has changed substantially from when I grew up when two men could have an altercation and people would shrug. But there's far worse than what Will did in the world and especially in Hollyweird. This is kind of small potatoes in the overall scheme of things.

As far as how people see it, I think you will be quite surprised how many women think what Will did was noble and how many men just don't care. Women tend not to publicly support such actions for fear of repercussions, but women like seeing a man stand up for his wife. Will is a tall, good looking wealthy man. He's gonna be fine.

Now if he were caught up in the Metoo# scandal or slapped a woman, be a different matter. But a man slapping another man is not gonna rate much even on national television. Chris Rock is the only guy to really make Will pay badly if he felt like it as that lawsuit or any charges would be easy to file.

[RiverDog]

I think this will probably colour public perception of Will Smith for the rest of his career. Nothing that violent has ever happened on live TV that I can think, so if it starts a bad trend then he will be even more remembered for it. I think it's clear he has more demons than a simple bad joke would have elicited such an extreme response, not to mention the verbal abuse after the slap. I hope he is getting help.

I don't believe this at all. Striking others in the workplace between celebrities was far more common when I was growing up. There are legendary tales of Bill Murray's drunken violence and he's had an amazing career. Sean Penn used to get real violent earlier in his career and he's done fine. Will will have to take some lumps as the world has changed substantially from when I grew up when two men could have an altercation and people would shrug. But there's far worse than what Will did in the world and especially in Hollyweird. This is kind of small potatoes in the overall scheme of things.

As far as how people see it, I think you will be quite surprised how many women think what Will did was noble and how many men just don't care. Women tend not to publicly support such actions for fear of repercussions, but women like seeing a man stand up for his wife. Will is a tall, good looking wealthy man. He's gonna be fine.

Now if he were caught up in the Metoo# scandal or slapped a woman, be a different matter. But a man slapping another man is not gonna rate much even on national television. Chris Rock is the only guy to really make Will pay badly if he felt like it as that lawsuit or any charges would be easy to file.

I'm with ASF on this one. Although I personally don't approve of Smith's behavior and certainly if this would have happened in the workplace Smith would have been fired on the spot, I think there's going to be a mixed opinion. I've already heard a lot of women on my Facebook feed express their admiration for a man that was willing to defend his woman. There was a sort of chivalry to the act that appeals to some, but by no means all, women, that they like to be fought over. It makes some of them feel that they are so damn sexy and desirable that men are willing to fight over them. Some of the men won't give a rip.

I've also heard from the other extreme, that Smith ought to be arrested for assault and battery, which to me, is laughable. At best, this is a misdemeanor crime that might yield a couple hundred dollar fine and no time in jail, and we're going to clog the court system up with that?

[I-5]

I don't believe this at all. Striking others in the workplace between celebrities was far more common when I was growing up. There are legendary tales of Bill Murray's drunken violence and he's had an amazing career. Sean Penn used to get real violent earlier in his career and he's done fine. Will will have to take some lumps as the world has changed substantially from when I grew up when two men could have an altercation and people would shrug. But there's far worse than what Will did in the world and especially in Hollyweird. This is kind of small potatoes in the overall scheme of things.

As far as how people see it, I think you will be quite surprised how many women think what Will did was noble and how many men just don't care. Women tend not to publicly support such actions for fear of repercussions, but women like seeing a man stand up for his wife. Will is a tall, good looking wealthy man. He's gonna be fine.

Now if he were caught up in the Metoo# scandal or slapped a woman, be a different matter. But a man slapping another man is not gonna rate much even on national television. Chris Rock is the only guy to really make Will pay badly if he felt like it as that lawsuit or any charges would be easy to file.

You're making my point. None of that was on live TV. I know some women think it was noble, but there is nothing noble about what happened..neither the joke (which was not that crazy), and definitely not the slap, as well as the Academy doing absolutely nothing about it, and moreover letting him make a speech a few minutes later. It normalized a level of violence we haven't seen in this kind of setting. If Will Smith got that worked up about a joke that Jada has told about herself in the past, what would he be like at a real roast, like when Don Rickles was around? Those were much MUCH rougher. That's what the Oscar telecast is, a mini roast. Chris was tame; imagine if it had been Ricky Gervais hosting.

The funny thing is, Jada looked absolutely gorgeous with her shaved head, and Chris Rock even acknowledged it, so I don't think it was that bad of a slight....it just makes the reaction of Will seem so out of proportion. Especially considering he seemed to enjoy it at first.

[Aseahawkfan]

I'm with ASF on this one. Although I personally don't approve of Smith's behavior and certainly if this would have happened in the workplace Smith would have been fired on the spot, I think there's going to be a mixed opinion. I've already heard a lot of women on my Facebook feed express their admiration for a man that was willing to defend his woman. There was a sort of chivalry to the act that appeals to some, but by no means all, women, that they like to be fought over. It makes some of them feel that they are so damn sexy and desirable that men are willing to fight over them. Some of the men won't give a rip.

I've also heard from the other extreme, that Smith ought to be arrested for assault and battery, which to me, is laughable. At best, this is a misdemeanor crime that might yield a couple hundred dollar fine and no time in jail, and we're going to clog the court system up with that?

What about when you were younger, RD? If a guy smacked another guy back when you were about 30, do you fire him? I've seen people in the workplace get in fights when younger and you just end it and get everyone back in their place. But I know in the modern day there is more to worry about with lawsuits, so people tend to fire someone due to the legal repercussions. Men settling things with fists was much more common when I was growing up. Now it's out of fashion.

[Aseahawkfan]

You're making my point. None of that was on live TV. I know some women think it was noble, but there is nothing noble about what happened..neither the joke (which was not that crazy), and definitely not the slap, as well as the Academy doing absolutely nothing about it, and moreover letting him make a speech a few minutes later. It normalized a level of violence we haven't seen in this kind of setting. If Will Smith got that worked up about a joke that Jada has told about herself in the past, what would he be like at a real roast, like when Don Rickles was around? Those were much MUCH rougher. That's what the Oscar telecast is, a mini roast. Chris was tame; imagine if it had been Ricky Gervais hosting.

The funny thing is, Jada looked absolutely gorgeous with her shaved head, and Chris Rock even acknowledged it, so I don't think it was that bad of a slight....it just makes the reaction of Will seem so out of proportion. Especially considering he seemed to enjoy it at first.

If Chris Rock goes after him legally, it will suck for Will. If not and they settle it out of court, I don't think Will gets much more than perhaps an Oscar suspension or ban. People won't stop wanting to work with him or anything. I'm not sure what you're expecting, but this isn't close to career ending and won't be the final memory of Will Smith. Will's been a pretty low key, great success story most of his life. I still think for Hollywood this is a pretty minor, though very public transgression.

Will's more likely to be taken down by his weird ass family than this. That show Jada likes to do is way too much and his kids are acting strange. They are not like him much at all.

Will's a hard working Philly kid who came up poor. He married a crazy but beautiful woman. She's taking him into the gutter unfortunately. He sticks by her for some reason even though she's embarrassed him multiple times. I hope the guy is ok. Hate to see Will crash and burn because of his stupid marriage and the weird hold Jada has on him.

[I-5]

There is no need to settle anything out of court, because Chris being the cooler head declined to even press charges, even though he has grounds to. He let it go.

I’ve been a fan of Will Smith for a long time, and I realize this was one incident. I’m convinced it was coming from a place deep inside that for whatever reason, that joke triggered a LOT. He’s clearly in some kind of state in his life. I hope for the best for him.

[Aseahawkfan]

There is no need to settle anything out of court, because Chris being the cooler head declined to even press charges, even though he has grounds to. He let it go.

I’ve been a fan of Will Smith for a long time, and I realize this was one incident. I’m convinced it was coming from a place deep inside that for whatever reason, that joke triggered a LOT. He’s clearly in some kind of state in his life. I hope for the best for him.

The videos I've watched talk about some weird open marriage and her recent fling with some rapper that lived with them. I think Will is mostly sticking there for his kids. Something is obviously going on there as he is one of the last guys I expected to lose it like that.

[RiverDog]

What about when you were younger, RD? If a guy smacked another guy back when you were about 30, do you fire him?

Yep. From the time I started in 1978, fighting on the job was one of the offenses that drew an immediate termination, along with stealing, drinking on the job, lying in an investigation, walking off the job, forging documents (like dry labbing, altering a time card, etc.). If the evidence was solid, the union wouldn't even take it to arbitration. It likely wasn't that way with a mom and pop type business, but I've always worked at large, corporate companies that had dedicated HR departments, and in most cases, a union presence. We had several layers of management reviewing serious disciplinary incidents. All supervisors had to attend in-house training sessions, and included instructors that were labor attorneys. As a line supervisor, I wasn't even authorized to terminate an employee, only suspend them pending investigation. We didn't make mistakes.

I've seen people in the workplace get in fights when younger and you just end it and get everyone back in their place. But I know in the modern day there is more to worry about with lawsuits, so people tend to fire someone due to the legal repercussions. Men settling things with fists was much more common when I was growing up. Now it's out of fashion.

I agree that things are much different now than they were back when I entered the workforce, particularly as it applies to things like sexual misconduct, verbal harassment, and conflict of interests. As a supervisor, I used to go to Seahawks, Sonics, and Mariners games on tickets that a vendor gave us. By the time I retired, I couldn't even accept a vendor taking me to lunch without filling out a report and submitting it to my boss.

But fighting has always been an almost immediate termination. If we couldn't determine who started it, we'd fire both of them and let them sort it out themselves through the grievance procedure. Most of the time, that resulted in the person that started it coming forward and admitting it, not willing to take down the guy he picked a fight with.

[RiverDog]

There is no need to settle anything out of court, because Chris being the cooler head declined to even press charges, even though he has grounds to. He let it go.

I’ve been a fan of Will Smith for a long time, and I realize this was one incident. I’m convinced it was coming from a place deep inside that for whatever reason, that joke triggered a LOT. He’s clearly in some kind of state in his life. I hope for the best for him.

Chris Rock doesn't have a leg to stand on should he have opted to take legal action. He didn't suffer any significant injuries, wasn't in fear of his life or further bodily harm, there was no deadly weapon involved, nor did he lose any pay or property damage due to the incident. Outside of emotional trauma, there were no damages he could cite in a lawsuit. It was a misdemeanor assault, which is why the cops won't pursue it unless there's a complaint, and even if Rock did file a complaint, the worse Smith would have suffered would have been a couple hundred dollar fine and it would have gone on his record. The only possible way Rock could have sued is if his career was interfered with by the incident. Heck, he'll probably make tens of millions by writing a book and have a movie made about it.

Chris Rock may have wanted to press charges, but a good lawyer likely would have talked him out of it, so I'm not going to automatically credit him with being a cooler head. Besides, pursuing it could have done more harm to his career than good, as there's a lot of people that would perceive him as a crying little wimp. There's already a percentage of people, mostly men, that feel that a real man wouldn't have taken that and would have responded right then and there. Let's ask CBob what he would have done.

Although I think Will Smith was out of line and deserves some sort of discipline from the controlling authority, I also think that the incident was blown way out of proportion.

[I-5]

Chris Rock doesn't have a leg to stand on should he have opted to take legal action. He didn't suffer any significant injuries, wasn't in fear of his life or further bodily harm, there was no deadly weapon involved, nor did he lose any pay or property damage due to the incident. Outside of emotional trauma, there were no damages he could cite in a lawsuit. It was a misdemeanor assault, which is why the cops won't pursue it unless there's a complaint, and even if Rock did file a complaint, the worse Smith would have suffered would have been a couple hundred dollar fine and it would have gone on his record. The only possible way Rock could have sued is if his career was interfered with by the incident. Heck, he'll probably make tens of millions by writing a book and have a movie made about it.

Chris Rock may have wanted to press charges, but a good lawyer likely would have talked him out of it, so I'm not going to automatically credit him with being a cooler head. Besides, pursuing it could have done more harm to his career than good, as there's a lot of people that would perceive him as a crying little wimp. There's already a percentage of people, mostly men, that feel that a real man wouldn't have taken that and would have responded right then and there. Let's ask CBob what he would have done.

Although I think Will Smith was out of line and deserves some sort of discipline from the controlling authority, I also think that the incident was blown way out of proportion.

To be perfectly clear, at no point did Chris Rock ever say he wanted to press charges or even considered. In fact, it was his friend Will Packer who was backstage with him along with someone from the LAPD who asked him if he wanted to press charges, and Chris emphatically said no..repeatedly according to Packer. He wanted no part of anything to do with pressing charges. Not only that, at his comedy show in Boston a couple days later, someone in the audience started shouting 'F__ Will Smith' and Rock put a stop to that right away. Pure class from this guy.

For anyone out there that even thinks this might have been staged, the look on Chris' face immediately after it happened when he had to continue with the award for Best Documentary betrays how confused and uncertain he feels. Pretty sad if you ask me. No way that joke warranted this.

https://www.tiktok.com/@ethiopian_girl_101/video/7080989760851856683?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1&q=chris%20rock%20look%20at%20his%20face&t=1648848788458

[c_hawkbob]

Sorry I5 but if you make fun of my wife's disability in front of a bunch of people I might do more than just slap you. Maybe not in front of everyone but certainly by the time you got off stage. Your outrage is misplaced.

[RiverDog]

To be perfectly clear, at no point did Chris Rock ever say he wanted to press charges or even considered. In fact, it was his friend Will Packer who was backstage with him along with someone from the LAPD who asked him if he wanted to press charges, and Chris emphatically said no..repeatedly according to Packer. He wanted no part of anything to do with pressing charges. Not only that, at his comedy show in Boston a couple days later, someone in the audience started shouting 'F__ Will Smith' and Rock put a stop to that right away. Pure class from this guy.

For anyone out there that even thinks this might have been staged, the look on Chris' face immediately after it happened when he had to continue with the award for Best Documentary betrays how confused and uncertain he feels. Pretty sad if you ask me. No way that joke warranted this.

https://www.tiktok.com/@ethiopian_girl_101/video/7080989760851856683?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1&q=chris%20rock%20look%20at%20his%20face&t=1648848788458

I'll give Chris Rock credit for being smart about not filing charges and for putting a stop to the "F-Will Smith" guy, but that's about as far as I will go. It would have been a horrible look for him, a whiny little cry baby wimp running to tell the teacher that someone slapped him. The best thing for both Rock, his career, as well as Will Smith and career, is that this incident go away, and filing charges would do nothing but keep it in the news.

And as far as your statement about Rock being "pure class", if he were a classy guy, he wouldn't have made the joke in the first place. Like the saying goes, it takes two to make a fight, and Rock was at least partly to blame.

[I-5]

Lets be completely honest, if Will Smith hadnt gone up and physically assaulted Rock, would you even remember the joke that he told, or was it the slap that made you notice it? Since when is physical assault justified because someone didnt like something that was said and got their feelings hurt? According to the laws we have, that is illegal. Of all the jokes we’ve heard at live award shows, I dont even think this rises to the level of insult. What exactly is the problem that is so outrageous about the joke? GI Jane is a good movie and Demi Moore was great in it and looked gorgeous with a shaved head. If Jada was offered the part, would she accept it or do you think she would be offended? It’s the outrage about the tame joke that I find outrageous if anything.

And since when do women need to be physically protected from a comedian’s joke? Did Jada really need that to happen?

[c_hawkbob]

Oh I'm being honest. Not everything that is wrong is illegal. Rock's joke was akin to Trump mocking a disabled reporter. That wasn't illegal either but it deserved a swift backhand too IMO. We need to hold ourselves to a higher standard than just what is legal. And not everything needs to be settled by a judge.

[RiverDog]

Lets be completely honest, if Will Smith hadnt gone up and physically assaulted Rock, would you even remember the joke that he told, or was it the slap that made you notice it? Since when is physical assault justified because someone didnt like something that was said and got their feelings hurt? According to the laws we have, that is illegal. Of all the jokes we’ve heard at live award shows, I dont even think this rises to the level of insult. What exactly is the problem that is so outrageous about the joke? GI Jane is a good movie and Demi Moore was great in it and looked gorgeous with a shaved head. If Jada was offered the part, would she accept it or do you think she would be offended? It’s the outrage about the tame joke that I find outrageous if anything.

And since when do women need to be physically protected from a comedian’s joke? Did Jada really need that to happen?

Of course, no one would have heard about the joke because the media looks for sensationalism, and one actor slapping another is about as sensational as it comes.

I agree that Smith was in the wrong and if I were assigning blame, he'd get 80-90% of it. He should have handled it much differently, approached him back stage and wasn't justified in taking offensive physical action. But Rock was also out of line by telling that kind of joke, especially in a public setting like that.

To be honest, I've stuck my foot in my mouth on more than one occasion, trying to be funny or act like a smart ass and had my comments taken differently than I intended to, so I can have some degree of sympathy for Chris Rock, and I think he has handled the aftermath quite well. But classy guy? No.

[I-5]

Come on Riv, I used the term ‘classy guy’ to describe Rock’s reaction to getting b**tch slapped on live TV in front of millions, keeping his cool, and refusing to retaliate or press charges. That was remarkable and seems obvious what I was describing with the term, but I guess not to you. Most comedians aren’t ‘classy’ when it comes to their material, since their job is to poke fun at events like just like a roast, and he was doing his job. He was there to poke fun at the proceedings…that’s why they typically hire comedians to host the Oscars. But he’s not even on my list of what I’d call ‘nasty’ comedians.

We remember Trump’s awful joke about the disabled reporter even without any punches being thrown because it was pure cruelty (I wanted to punch him too I agree with Bob), but there’s no way Chris’ joke was in the same universe. GI Jane is not an insult - Smith just made it one.

[RiverDog]

OK, fair enough.

I'm just getting damn tired of hearing about it. It's been blown way out of proportion. One multimillion dollar dude slaps another multimillion dollar dude. BFD. Zsa Zsa Gabor slapping a police officer was much more entertaining as people laughed about it instead of getting into serious arguments over it.

[NorthHawk]

To steal and paraphrase an old line:
I went to an Awards Show and a Hockey game broke out.

I like movies like everyone else, but what are actors?
They are pretenders. They pretend to be someone or something other than themselves. Just a larger scale version of 6 year olds in a fantasy land play group.
So these awards shows boil down to who is the best pretender? Oh, there are 4 people nominated as pretending the best - and the best pretender of the year
goes to John Doe.
I don't watch awards shows...

[RiverDog]

To steal and paraphrase an old line:
I went to an Awards Show and a Hockey game broke out.

I like movies like everyone else, but what are actors?
They are pretenders. They pretend to be someone or something other than themselves. Just a larger scale version of 6 year olds in a fantasy land play group.
So these awards shows boil down to who is the best pretender? Oh, there are 4 people nominated as pretending the best - and the best pretender of the year
goes to John Doe.
I don't watch awards shows...

Yeah, I don't watch award shows, either. Actors/actresses have to rank alongside professional athlete as one of the most overpaid of occupations, and like my attitude towards sports, I'll watch the finished product but I don't idolize the individuals.