Will Smith resigns from film academy over Chris Rock slap

Illyas

I suppose if Chris Rock had been making a joke at the expense of race instead of medical disability it would have been good and righteous.

Since he is black, it would have been accepted by our judges. If he was white, all hell would have broken out. In event, it is not even clear he knew about the medical condition. I certainly did not, I only knew about the GI Jane haircut.

Hervé L'Eisa

In a way, I feel a little bit sorry for Will Smith. With the "Slap Heard 'Round The World" he likely just ended his career, all because of his poor reaction to a joke,

Assaulting a performer is not a "poor reaction", it is violating a fundamental principle of civilized society. Do you expect comedians to appear anywhere if they can expect to be physically assaulted anytime the tread on someones feeling?

*‘Wild, Wild West’ *is up next on Hollywood ‘fight card’ and ‘Will’ possibly will take some focus off of Pinkett & Smith. Just 12 hours from now is the Grammys, hosted by Trevor Noah. Kanye “Ye” West is barred from performing after posting derogatory remarks and odd behavior on social media regarding Noah and someone’s Strangethanfiction favorite comedian(?), Pete Davidson.

Tune in tomorrow morning as the circus continues. . .

Not a good impression to the impressionable when problems get solved by violence and threats.

Will Smith needs time in a monastery...

Enough with discussion. Why don't we have poll here like simply who do you think handle the situation better way?

CR

WS

at least now jada is getting royally roasted in all media.....you know what they say about karma!

And now Japanese media is pushing the fake narrative that all Americans support Chris Rock, simply because his ticket sales increased. Duh, he just got a huge advertisement on TV...

What does her alopecia have to do with either of their acting careers anyway ?

This is a classic case of a woman using her own hormonal problems to manipulate the accomplishments of two great actors to obtain more attention on herself.

Unfortunately mr smith will be the one most hurt by all this.

Words are emotionally painful and can have a long lasting traumatic effect.

A slap in the face can't be justified or compared.

Both smith and rock should face equal punishment.

No pun intended !

Interesting, there is now footage of Jada laughing at Chris R getting slapped.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G10WUmtXsyc

Will get OUT, stop letting this person manipulate the hell out of you!

If he didn't know when he made the remark, he surely knows now. An apology would be in order.

I'm actually more interested if he will say that he didn't know

We all need to just stand back and accept that black on black violence needs to stop....

Black lives matter etc...

I can’t remember how many times we’ve had that ‘zinger’.

How exceedingly unoriginal.

If he didn't know when he made the remark, he surely knows now. An apology would be in order.

Sure. I would.

All that matters is whether Rock knew she had alopecia or not, and anyone condemning him as if he did needs to prove he knew it.

If he didn't know when he made the remark, he surely knows now. An apology would be in order.

Jada's alopecia has been common knowledge for some time.

Maybe if you watch the View. But most of us don’t. It doesn’t matter if it was “common knowledge” as that is unquantifiable. All that matters is whether Rock knew she had alopecia or not, and anyone condemning him as if he did needs to prove he knew it. Otherwise it’s just woke cancel culture Karen’s whining about the world not acting the way they fantasize it should.

We all need to just stand back and accept that black on black violence needs to stop....

Black lives matter etc...

Apparently, the joke was off the cuff. People do realize he’s a comedian with decades of experience right? That sometimes witty comments can come to mind on the spot? The joke wasn’t on his teleprompter. And I certainly didn’t know she had alopecia, I don’t travel in those circles, does Chris rock? So many people assuming he knew that she had alopecia, which is a bit of a high opinion of how much people know about Jada Pinkett Smith.

Maybe Rock's fans can tell if that was just a usual joke and therefore not unexpected

Give us some examples.

I'm actually curious if Rock made/makes same/comparable jokes to what he made for Jada's condition

They had or they have? Well that's good!

Can't decide if it makes it easier or harder to process in that case

this includes cancer jokes, etc…

I don’t have Netflix and don’t know the comedians you mentioned.

Do they make jokes about cancer the disease or identify and joke about people diagnosed with cancer?

Give us some examples.

His wife divorced him for being unfaithful, Will slapped him defending his unfaithful wife.

If Will and Jada had an open marriage, an agreement that it was ok to sleep with other people, how would it be unfaithful?

Rock, who was about to present Oscar for best documentary, declined to file charges when asked by police. He has only briefly addressed the attack publicly, saying at one comedy concert in Boston this week that he was still "kind of processing what happened.”

Must be really difficult for him to process.

His wife divorced him for being unfaithful, Will slapped him defending his unfaithful wife.

O don’t have a subscription to Netflix, so please enlighten me. These comedians you mention, do they make jokes about disease in general, or do they name names and make individuals the butt of their jokes?

Sometimes they make a specific joke about an individual. Especially people in the audience.

Can you see the difference between ‘Dyslexia is funny ha ha’ and ‘Antiquesaving has dyslexia so let’s all laugh at him/her in front of millions of people’?

Some people would laugh along with it, not minding being the butt of the joke. There is a whole genre of comedy dedicated to insults (roast battles) where they say vile stuff about each other for laughs, then hug it out after. That's the thing about comedy - there is no universal agreement as to what is funny, and what makes me laugh won't make someone else laugh, and vice versa, so there's no way anyone can say that a comedian or joke is bad, if/when other people like that. Comedy is entirely subjective, there is literally no objectivity behind it beyond the simple one: If people laugh, it's funny, if they don't it's not. And remember, people laughed at Rock's joke.

It was a joke that failed. Part of being a comedian. Will Smith overreacted. Not cool.

Oh please, I have heard far worse from dyslexia jokes to cancer jokes over the decades also dumb blonde jokes and everything else

Don't watch Jo Koy, Russel Peters, Ali Wong,Ronnie Chieng, or any other comedian.

Because everyone of them makes. Jokes about race, disease, etc...this includes cancer jokes, etc...

I don’t have a subscription to Netflix, so please enlighten me. These comedians you mention, do they make jokes about disease in general, or do they name names and make individuals the butt of their jokes? Can you see the difference between ‘Dyslexia is funny ha ha’ and ‘Antiquesaving has dyslexia so let’s all laugh at him/her in front of millions of people’?

I find the condemnation and 'genderfication' of violence (e.g. macho male) a bit strange coming off half a decade of commenters here condoning political violence against people expressing constitutionally protected speech they don't like.

I don't see any posters overlapping in those two groups. Who exactly are you talking about?

im sure Rock will cash in at his shows, plenty of jokes he can make up about his own mishap, probably wont even need to sue Smith to get the money

Why would he need the money? He's already loaded.

I find the condemnation and 'genderfication' of violence (e.g. macho male) a bit strange coming off half a decade of commenters here condoning political violence against people expressing constitutionally protected speech they don't like. 

I don't think it is so much the macho male protecting his wife. It is the emasculation of Will Smith. The real cultprit is Jada.

cleoToday  11:00 pm JST

Then I recommend you avoid any and all Netflix comedy specials.

Don't watch Jo Koy, Russel Peters, Ali Wong,Ronnie Chieng, or any other comedian.

Because everyone of them makes. Jokes about race, disease, etc...this includes cancer jokes, etc...

“I don’t give two craps what people think about this bald head of mine, because guess what? I love it.” - Jada Pinkett Smith

Good for her, taking possession of her condition and standing tall. I fail to see how that gives Chris Rock or anyone else license to use her as the butt of a cheap tasteless joke.

Mountains are made of mole hills.

Actors of their stature should be pretty thick skinned by now, jokes are made, nerves are hit. Will over reacted, more decided to then over run by anger, but did none the less. But the actual harm was mild.

If anyone can get over this unscafed, it would be Will Smith.

I find the condemnation and 'genderfication' of violence (e.g. macho male) a bit strange coming off half a decade of commenters here condoning political violence against people expressing constitutionally protected speech they don't like. I suppose if Chris Rock had been making a joke at the expense of race instead of medical disability it would have been good and righteous.

The most bizarre thing to me was how Will Smith went out after the Oscars and partied the night away, even singing 'Gettin Jiggy with it" with the fans. He should have gone straight home and crawled into bed.

Can't wait to hear what Chris Rock will be saying on his upcoming standup comedy tour about all this.

im sure Rock will cash in at his shows, plenty of jokes he can make up about his own mishap, probably wont even need to sue Smith to get the money

Below is a recent quote for OssanA & Cleo:

“I don’t give two craps what people think about this bald head of mine, because guess what? I love it.” - Jada Pinkett Smith

He should be charged with assault, it’s not as if there would be any problem with proof. Failure to do so gives the message that violence is acceptable.

Chris Rock declined to press charges

Chris Rock’s roast of Jada was very mild. Will simply lost it.

The LAPD asked Rock if he wanted to press battery charges to which he declined.

Chris handled it perfectly.

Yes really bad violence shouldn't be let of the hook. But on the other hand neither should teasing / bulling other people about how they look. It's only a joke shouldn't fly as an excuse. Both of these men should be reprimanded disgusting.

Enough apologies, well accepted, now let's move on to the next movie.

He should be charged with assault, it’s not as if there would be any problem with proof. Failure to do so gives the message that violence is acceptable.

Will Smith poignantly upright offered a arm to Jada Pinkett Smith and left the building.

The rest is history.

Because he found the joke funny and laughed, she saw him laughing at that point he was finished, too late to say let's go.

He had to do something to save his but from her later!

but he did say this to a devoted husband, to his face in the second row front stage.

Devoted husband?!?!

Lest see, " hey don't talk about my wife" "you can "sleep" with her, that's Ok, but don't talk about her"

Some strange priority that family has.

Chris Rock is a skilled stand up comedian.

Chris Rock could have reached inside his considerable ability, skill, to find his unique facetious, flippant sweet point.

I am truly sorry, I just can't see why Chris Rock to focus is missing from Jada Pinkett Smith head.

It could have been, with the benefit of hindsight, Will Smith poignantly upright offered a arm to Jada Pinkett Smith and left the building.

The rest is history.

Although I suspect it was staged, and I’m a pacifist, and I believe in freedom of speech and love comedy, but he did say this to a devoted husband, to his face in the second row front stage. If it was me, I would just spit in his face.

violence doesn’t solve anything.

cleoToday  06:36 pm JST

Oh please, I have heard far worse from dyslexia jokes to cancer jokes over the decades also dumb blonde jokes and everything else that sticks out we've become a thin skin society!

He had no problem with it and the fact is he's made the same kind of jokes oh right about a man being bald or losing his hair that's okay, right?

Funny when it's a man right because trust me we hear them all the time by present-day comedians a lot of them women too!

Rock could have sat up there I made 100 jokes after another insulting everybody that wasn't the "minority" or a woman and everyone would have left because that's funny had it been a white guy making that joke he'd be finished never to work again.

Has Will Smith been a white guy hitting a black man on stage his career would have been over he would have been marched out of there by security and arrested.

If not there would have been riots in the street before the show ended!

Anyone who doesn't admit to these facts is just sticking their head in the sand saying la la la la la la I can't hear it I don't hear you I don't see it.

Three monkeys ring a bell?

I don’t think he had any problem with the joke only Jada did

I don’t think he had any problem with the joke until he realised precisely what Rock was saying, until he realised the meaning of the reference to ‘GI Jane’.

Smith has apologised for losing it, Rock has not yet apologized for deliberately and with malice aforethought humiliating a woman in front of a TV audience of millions. If it wasn’t deliberate, if he spoke without thinking (as Smith lashed out without thinking), he should apologise.

Rock instigated the whole incident.

All while we're not supposed to even make "racist comments"?

Let me fix that:

"All while we're not supposed to even make "racist comments" unless we are a "visible minority" comedian, in which case racially based jokes are permitted to a limit.

You can make as many racially motivated joke on your own group a few "Risky" but careful about another visible minority and all the jokes you like in good or bad taste about any "white ethnic" you want except Jewish!"

Ok now we are accurate.

Don't believe me, watch Russel Peters, Chris's Rick, Jo Koy, etc ...

So has Chris Rock apologized for using Smith's wife's disease condition as the brunt of his joke? 

When did it not?

Wake up, jokes about diseases and disabilities have been a backbone of comedy since comedy was first done.

I could list a hundred joke done over the years without even trying.

Crap at least half would be about dyslexia, that's always good for a laugh ( I should know as I have severe dyslexia and I've heard them all).

Jokes about the "one eyed man" got to be at least a few hundred, the "one legged person" at least a few hundred.

The blind, down syndrome, intellectually disabled, or just someone was extremely bad eyesight and extremely thick glasses.

Welcome to reality!

Oh I know the PC world doesn't permit them in public anymore but in the back room at the cocktail party there's still quite prevalent

My biggest problem with this is that the full footage clearly shows Smith laughing at the joke until Jada gave him a dirty look, suddenly he stopped laughing looks at her then does his best imitation of a macho fool!

I don't think he had any problem with the joke only Jada did, heck he lets other men "sleep" with her so why would a bad joke bother him?

Smith has publically apologized and resigned from the film academy. So has Chris Rock apologized for using Smith's wife's disease condition as the brunt of his joke? When did it become OK to do this in America? What's next, jokes making fun of the handicapped or mentally impaired? All while we're not supposed to even make "racist comments"?

Ok resigning from the academy is a start, it he didnt & was kicked out would have added on to his problems.

Now the REAL problem is his wife he needs to divorce her as soon as possible so he can start to heal, the BS she has put him through is way off the charts, was clear to see as he almost had a meltdown receiving his award, the slap only triggered the pain he harbours from a failed family life, get out Will, while you still can!

Peter14Today  03:35 pm JST

Sure he can produce - anyone willing to spend some money can be a producer. But as an actor? He was approaching his sell-by date as it was

His last work earned him an Oscar for best actor. I hardly call that approaching a sell by date.

Interesting that he resorted to the stereotypical macho male reactions of using violence when they are frustrated and that he wins an Oscar for playing a man taking credit for the success of his two daughters.

Talk about a male ego trip!

Smiths position was untenable. Whether he is banished from the Academy for life or not depends on his rehabilitation. He clearly needs a lot of help with his issues.

Violence is never the answer.

@Hervé L'Eisa

I feel a little bit sorry for Will Smith… he likely just ended his career, all because of his poor reaction to a joke

Will Smith the multimillionaire who rose from his seat, walked across a room, and violently physically assaulted a person in public?

You feel sorry for that Will Smith?

I don’t.

TT

My initial reaction to Will Smith striking Chris Rock face was a reaction to Chris Rock joke/jibe at Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith medical condition.

Somewhat knee jerk, since I did not watch the Oscar ceremony.

I viewed the incident on YouTube.

When friends sent the full footage of events leading up to and after the altercation, I began to doubt the motivation, sincerity, reasoning behind Will Smiths behaviour.

I am still perplexed as to why Chris Rock saw fit to include Jada Pinkett Smith alopecia as material for comedy. As much as Will Smith undignified failure to rise above and behave accordingly.

Chris Rock, in many respects let Will Smith off the hook.

Personally, I do not like Chris Rock, he is constantly taking the piss out of people! That kind of comedy is not clever it is just rude and irritating.

I am very disappointed with Will's behavior, I thought that he might be more clever. But not surprised!

I don't think anyone in entertainment history has made winning an Oscar the worst night of their career. Quite the feat.

There are so many stories of self-destructive spirals but Will Smith has managed to top them all.

People are talking about him. He will be back.

I don't think anyone in entertainment history has made winning an Oscar the worst night of their career. Quite the feat.

Will the $130,000 ‘swag bags’ also be returned?

A good decision. Simply grilled or lightly poached with a herb sauce, *@TheAvenger***? **

Sure he can produce - anyone willing to spend some money can be a producer. But as an actor? He was approaching his sell-by date as it was

His last work earned him an Oscar for best actor. I hardly call that approaching a sell by date.

The old “ you can’t fire me, I quit “ game ...

...

” childish “ ...

I like Will Smith. Always have. However, it's easy to feel sorry for him now. He did a terrible thing as is deserving of this outcome. We all make mistakes in life. I as well. So, let's all learn and grow from this and move on. Chris Rock is a man of value. I am impressed with him.

Smith has enough wealth that he can fund his own project. As long as it is the right one he can still remain in acting, or producing or directing. Others have done worse and continued acting.

Mel Gibson came back that way because he funded movies that made solid profits. Others have done worse, but not in the middle of an Academy Awards broadcast. Nobody has come close to doing what he did in terms of its negative impact on the industry.

Sure he can produce - anyone willing to spend some money can be a producer. But as an actor? He was approaching his sell-by date as it was, and he has deeply tarnished what image he had left.

Good for him to resign and try to stay ahead of the story. Somehow though, I don't think he will return his Oscar. Seems like wearing the cuckold horns was weighing a bit heavy on him and he felt obligated to prove his ownership of his wife.

Can't wait to hear what Chris Rock will be saying on his upcoming standup comedy tour about all this.

My actions at the 94th Academy Awards presentation were shocking, painful, and inexcusable.

Agreed. Smart move to preempt getting booted out and joining such illustrious fellows as Weinstein, Cosby and Polanski.

With the "Slap Heard 'Round The World" he likely just ended his career,

I dont think so. Smith has enough wealth that he can fund his own project. As long as it is the right one he can still remain in acting, or producing or directing. Others have done worse and continued acting.

Resigning is always better than being fired and forced out.

In a way, I feel a little bit sorry for Will Smith. With the "Slap Heard 'Round The World" he likely just ended his career, all because of his poor reaction to a joke, something that celebrities often used to take in stride at celebrity roasts. Chris Rock's joke was nothing compared to many other jokes that have been made at the expense of celebrities.

But, in this current "trivially offended" culture, such anthills are made to be mountains.

Chris Rock should have brought out his 'Loy Cannon' persona from Fargo season 4. With Doctor Senator and his entire gang by his side, Will Smith would not have dared to mess with him.