Just woke up and read about the Smith / Rock confrontation. I'm on Smith's side.

[Dial H For Hero]

I don't really have a dog in this hunt. I don't follow celebrities; I've seen Smith in a few films, and while I've heard of Rock, I've never watched any of his routines. So, here's my understanding after reading about this for the last 15 minutes:

Smith's wife has a disease which has caused her hair to fall out and she appeared at the Oscars without wearing a wig. Rock made a tasteless joke mocking her in front of the Smiths, and while being watched by tens of millions. Smith walked up on stage and open handedly slapped Rock, telling him a couple of times afterward to keep his wife's name out of it.

I know nothing of the history between the parties.

All I can do is try to put myself in Smith's shoes. While I've never been married, if I was in the audience while someone on stage was making fun of my mother or sister's appearance due to a disease they'd contracted as they sat beside me, I can certainly picture myself walking up to the "gentleman" in question and slapping/punching him. I'm hardly a violent person; I haven't been in a physical confrontation of any sort since junior high school...but Rock's "joke" was over the line. I would then accept any legal consequences.

Was Smith's slap legally justified? Nope....but I'm glad he did it.

[AlexSFCA]

1. unfortunately, the media chose to focus exclusively on the "violence" of the slap

[Wingus Dingus]

2. You don't get to physically attack people who offend or anger you.

This is the heart of road rage, of retaliation shootings, of men beating their wives. It's a bad road to go down.

[Dial H For Hero]

4. As I said, it wasn't legally justified.

This is the heart of road rage, of retaliation shootings, of men beating their wives. It's a bad road to go down.

Bit of a difference between an open slap and shooting someone.

[Wingus Dingus]

8. No. You don't ever have the right to lay hands on someone for the words they say.

Or kick them, punch them, shoot them, run them off the road. It's not the level of injury that's sustained that matters--what matters is that an otherwise-intelligent and charming grown man fucking lost his mind because of a comic's insult. That's completely uncivilized and unjustifiable.

[uponit7771]

13. It wasn't morally justified either, Smith laughed at the joke at first. You've never been shot at

[PatSeg]

43. No, it wasn't right to hit Rock

but I do understand his anger. As for laughing at the joke, a lot of the laughter we see at these TV events is a conditioned, polite response to a punch line. In this case, I think it took Smith a second to realize and process what Chris Rock said. It took me a second.

I think it would have been alright to express his outrage verbally, but actually slapping Chris Rock was unacceptable.

[uponit7771]

60. Ricky Gervais hasn't been worse ?! There's NO ONE willing to link and quote Rock knowing Jada

... had a condition that would make the joke tastless.

NO NO AND NO !!

[Solomon]

57. How do you know Chris Rock knew about the disease? I didn't. I couldn't even understand the joke.

People here assume everybody knows about Pinkett's disease. I thought the joke was about Pickett playing the role of an aggressive fema!e like she did in the Batman series.

Will Smith was wrong. He should have handled it in a different way.

[uponit7771]

61. THIS !!!! ☝🏾☝🏾☝🏾 , I didn't either !!!

[RobinA]

75. I Didn't Either

I had a boss many moons ago who was a black woman and wore her hair that way through choice. She looked great, as did Smith.

[secondwind]

51. I'm with you... this has been so unfortunate....

[Fla Dem]

63. If Smith has that short a fuse, especially in front of millions of viewer, what's he like at home.

It certainly does cause you to question how he treats family members when he becomes irritated.

Am I saying that Chris Rock's comments were appropriate, probably not. However, he may have had no idea that Smith's wife was dealing with a health issue. Plenty of Black women are wearing their head bald. Ayanna Pressley, Representative from Massachusetts for one.


Smith could have responded verbally, a physical assault was wrong.

[Wingus Dingus]

69. I think that was the most disturbing aspect--an actor and public figure

many of us liked and admired over decades, losing his mind on the most important night for his career over a very mild joke about his wife's hairdo. I don't think Rock was making fun of the alopecia itself--had Jada Smith worn a wig, a joke probably wouldn't have been made. Plus she made it public that she was going to shave her head and be happy with it--and among actors, almost any attention is good attention, so Rock maybe thought it wouldn't offend her at all.

But even if it was offensive and hurtful to her, you don't freak out, run up on stage and slap someone. That's beyond overreaction, that's someone who has a clear lack of self control that is probably even worse in private, as you say.

[Srkdqltr]

3. Me too.

[uponit7771]

15. You've never been shot at

[Ptah]

5. It's as if Will Smith said, "my wife can't speak for herself."

[dixiechiken1]

11. This ☝️☝️☝️

Jada Pinkett Smith, as far as I can tell, is no shrinking violet. Every woman - every mother - has a look that can stop just about anyone in their tracks. I'm thinking she could've handled this with way, way, waaayyyy more class and tact than her dumbass husband did.

[Dial H For Hero]

17. Husbands generally take a poor view of someone mocking their wife's medical condition to

their face.

[Ptah]

22. I suspect wives are able to defend their ownselves.

[uponit7771]

68. Link and quote Rock ***KNOWING*** about her condition !!

[BlackSkimmer]

82. This. And if anyone saw the look she gave Rock after the joke, that spoke volumes.

Smith just looked like an ass.

[Emile]

6. I thought Will acted like a fascist.

[Dial H For Hero]

7. Oh, for the love of God.

The man slapped someone for mocking his wife's medical condition, and that makes him the next Mussolini?

[NYC Liberal]

14. Nobody mocked anyone's medical condition.

[Emile]

16. You don't physically slap someone for comparing your wife to Demi Moore.

[uponit7771]

24. You've never been shot at

[uponit7771]

10. You've never been shot at

[Dial H For Hero]

20. What do guns have to do with this?

[uponit7771]

27. Said the people who side with Smith in a country wear concealed carry is legal 🙄

[Dial H For Hero]

30. Given that (presumably) neither party was armed, that's utterly irrelevant.

[uponit7771]

37. "presumably" and even people on the left wonder why there's a gun violence in a country that

... allows open carry !!!

Smith LAUGHED at the joke he smacked a guy for !!!

[Bucky]

40. You've now made that comment several times.

It's not getting any closer to being relevant to the discussion.

[uponit7771]

42. False, people who even tacitly support STUPID violence don't understand how it can EASILY escalate

[Bucky]

45. It was an open palm slap.

I think we can file that under proportional response and move on

[uponit7771]

49. So could a shooting in response, again ... people who even tacitly support STUPID violence justify

... starting it the thinnest of reasons.

This was dumb af seeing Smith was laughing at the joke at first

[Dial H For Hero]

54. You seem to be obsessed with making this about firearms, when they have nothing to do with this

incident.

[uponit7771]

58. People who don't understand justified shootings in response to battery separate the two as if

... they're not connected.

OMFG,

You don't start shit you're not ready to finish to the end ... NEVER EVER support initiation violence it's a punk ass dumb way out

[Bucky]

62. You're just doing the "reductio ad absurdum" so hard right now

Please note that no one was shot.

[SomewhereInTheMiddle]

79. I'm guessing you're wrong

If you are making that a blanket stament to all possible readers of the comment on DU. Given the demographics of our nation adn the generation long war we are just getting out of, as well as the number of shooting incidents inside our country I am guessing a significant percentage, though not a majority, of DU members have been shot at at some time.

I have.

Once as a kid trespassing on someone's property in the country in Texas. It was a shotgun with rocksalt, but it scared me like nothing else up to that point.

And I was in Bagdad in 2010. There was a lot of shooting going on at that time and while none whizzed past my ears, I did have to duck and cover several times in my short stay. I know we have vets on the board, likely cops and others that may have faced gunfire in the line of duty.

This may well include you.

I urge us all to be careful of our assumptions of each other's experiences.

[dem4decades]

12. Then it's open season on comedians, and politicians too I guess, that offend

Someone.

[uponit7771]

18. +1, these people who support Smith have never been shot at

[Srkdqltr]

25. I don't make jokes at others expense either.

[uponit7771]

28. You mean after or before Smith laughed at the jokes told about his wife or are people half

... assing it when it comes to gettin all the information of the situation?!

[dem4decades]

34. I get it, you're no Don Rickles? You put yourself in the same category as Chris Rock?

[uponit7771]

31. You've never been shot at if think a horrid joke is worth any level of violence

[Dial H For Hero]

35. You've brought up guns half a dozen times now.

There. Weren't. Any. Guns.

[uponit7771]

52. Link and quote Rock ***KNOWING*** about her condition !! You'll run too like the other have ..

... because people who've never been shot at feel its OK to commit acts of violence for the thinnest of reasons.

[Xoan]

64. You're tiresome.

Bye.

[obamanut2012]

23. Glad to know you approve of assault and battery if you get pissed

[exboyfil]

26. Do you think he would have done better by taking his wife's hand

and walking out of the theater and going in front of mics?

Chris Rock is a moron, and the Academy should never let him on the premises again let alone be a host.

On the other hand the same could be said for Will Smith who should have been escorted out of the theater and the Best Actor Award skipped after they determined he was the winner.

[uponit7771]

32. THIS !!!! ☝🏾☝🏾☝🏾

[Solomon]

66. Except Chris Rock is not a moron. Why does everybody assume he knew

about her medical condition?

[exboyfil]

85. I heard it has been public for over three years

and his family and the Smiths apparently have some sort of relationship (friends).

Moron might be too strong a word. I haven't listened to him enough I guess (and I won't). His "humor" is unappealing to me.

[fishwax]

29. if it were me, my concern would be for my mother/sister/wife. Going up and punching him wouldn't

cross my mind. Certainly it wouldn't be my first thought. That was about Will, not his wife.

[JenniferJuniper]

33. I'm shocked that posters think Smith did an okay thing,

Not only was physical battery not called for, it was a completely insane thing to do. Punching someone out on a live internationally televised event because a bad joke offended you? Crazy.

[Dial H For Hero]

44. It wasn't just a "bad joke". He mocked the man's wife because of her medical condition to her face.

[JenniferJuniper]

47. And? This gives someone the right to assault someone?

On live TV no less?

[Dial H For Hero]

50. Legally? No. Morally? Good for him.

[uponit7771]

56. Not even morally WTF ?! You don't start violence you're not ready to handle to the nth degree ...

... and that includes being shot at.

[Betty88]

78. and you don't talk about someone's

Mom, sister or wife if you don't want a slap in the mouth. I am a 5ft nothing woman, talk shit about my wife or mom and you will feel it.

I'm an old fashioned girl.

[Dial H For Hero]

80. +1

[exboyfil]

59. It is not like Will Smith doesn't have one of the most powerful megaphones in Hollywood

He had so many other, better alternatives for dealing with that annoying s__t Chris Rock.

The best would have been a walk out with his wife and straight to the mics outside the theater. I would just love when that Best Actor category came up and watch the Academy scramble. Smith would have had the high ground, Rock's career would be on life support, and the Academy would be put in its place for hiring someone like Rock to host its show.

[mnhtnbb]

38. Rock's joke was inappropriate

And so was Smith's response. To use a line from an Oscar winning film "Dignity always prevails"

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216534384

If Ms Smith had made the same joke about herself, well, that would be a different story.

[dem4decades]

39. Chris Rock is funny, Will Smith, not so much.

[exboyfil]

46. Chris Rock is a moron and I hate his "humor"

he is also a substandard actor.

Will Smith is a fine actor. I have enjoyed many of his roles. That being said he should have been escorted out of the theater after the slap. I have posted elsewhere that I think it would be better for his career to plead to misdemeanor battery and take community service and a fine. It certainly would be better for society because now we are left with the image of a physical battery having no consequences. Without a complainant it would be impossible to get a convinction so charges on not appropriate.

[doc03]

84. I agree I don't think Rock is funny. Unless you think being

a foul mouthed skinny little prick is humor.

[brush]

48. Chris Rock shouldn't have went there, nor should've Will Smith.

I think they both damaged their careers.

[uponit7771]

53. Nope, Smith laughed at the joke Rock told about his wife. People aren't even looking at the

... video !!

[brush]

65. I saw the video. You actually think some industry people won't have...

second thoughts about working with Smith after he assaulted someone openly in public?

And one thing you're leaving out is the devastated look on Smith's wife's face at the joke. Smith didn't find Rock's joke so funny then.

[uponit7771]

67. Ricky Gervais hasn't been worse ?! There's NO ONE willing to link and quote Rock knowing Jada

... had a disease.

No, this was some simp shit on Smiths side there are WAAAAAY more ways to handle this SMARTLY.

[brush]

70. You didn't respond to my comment. Do you actually think...

some industry people won't have second thoughts about working with Smith now that they've seen him physically assault someone in public.?

[exboyfil]

71. I would rather work with an angry Will Smith

than Chris Rock anytime.

That being said Will Smith committed a very public battery, and I honestly think it would be best for him to plead to a misdemeanor battery charge with community service and a fine.

Chris Rock should be relegated to working sleezy nightclubs as far as I am concerned. It brought the sleeze to the Academy.

[DLevine]

55. Imagine if everybody just went around slapping people

because they were offended by what was said.

[quickesst]

72. I would bet a paycheck....

.... that anyone participating in this thread, and is advocating Will Smith's side is by a country mile more offended by Chris Rock's joke than Jada Pinkett Smith is. There are times when you can show some people a papercut, and their reaction is what someone would have if the finger was chopped off. There are people who go out of their way in an effort to be relevant. The only class shown was by Chris Rock when he chose not to press assault charges against Smith. His post slap reaction highlighted that class.

[Croney]

76. Chris Rock showed remarkable poise. He calmly stated that Smith

had slapped the shit out of him, then he said it was the greatest night in the history of television. And he carried on, because he is a professional.

[quickesst]

89. Absolutely

Chris Rock is a class act. He punctuated that fact by his reaction to Will Smith's violent act.

[Ocelot II]

73. I dug way down to the bottom of my Big Bag O' Fucks

and found nary a one, having used them all up on other issues. I do find it mildly interesting, though, that this morning nobody is talking about anything else wrt the Oscars, not even some of the epically hideous fashion statements for which the event is famous, let alone the name of the obscure feel-good movie nobody has seen because it was only available on Apple's streaming service.

[Duncan Grant]

74. Hero? Hardly.

Nothing excuses a man who comes onto an awards show stage and physical assaults and screams at a presenter. There’s no context that makes it appropriate or understandable. His behavior was criminal. Had any of the tech crew or non-Hollywood guests taken these actions, they would have been tackled, restrained and arrested. We would all be thankful someone took action to protect the presenter and event.

Will Smith doesn’t get a pass from me. He’s a disgrace who deserves condemnation and expulsion from the entertainment industry. With any luck, I’ll never have to see or listen to him again.

[Betty88]

77. +1

[Javaman]

81. the whole thing was just ridiculous.

Grin and bare it then speak to Rock after the show.

the sensationalism of smith mounting the steps and slap/punching rock was just sideshow-ism.

I have had alopecia my entire life. since I was five. I've been beat up, made fun of, called a nazi or a skinhead.

I got picked on every single day of elementary, junior and senior high. Yeah I got PTSD from it, but I also realized at some point, I chose to not fight anymore and you have to rise above and not let the stupidity of others to define who you are.

this was his wife's fight, not smiths to defend.

is he going to do this every single time someone gives a bad look or makes a comment about his wife?

if anything Rock was the better person for not pressing charges.

[exboyfil]

83. I think if Will Smith was so passionate about it

He should have walked out and to the nearest mic.

[Emile]

86. Same here, I have had alopecia since I was a teenager. People made fun of

my baldness my entire life. I never had the urge to physically attack someone for saying, I see you are still using ivory soap for shampoo. Will Smith has a history with his mental health for several years. If I had a coworker acting like he did last night, I would demand my employer to get him help before he breaks down again and does something really awful.

[geardaddy]

87. Rock took a cheap shot

But Smith shouldn't have assaulted Rock.

[Vinca]

88. I hate the Oscars, didn't watch and only saw the clip. Just from seeing that, the whole

thing looked staged. The smack was a nothing burger, he waited before getting on the stage to deliver it and the way he did it looked choreographed. Just my opinion, I don't really care. At least it got people talking about a boring award show.