6 minutes ago, janea4old said:

What Will Smith did was tacky for national television but not evil.
He didn't punch Chris Rock with the intent to knock him down.
He gave him a soap slap.  You know the type of slap a soap character gives another when insulted, but actually less vehement. This was not Carrie Brady punching Sami Brady at the wedding, to the point of knocking her down. This was more like when Marlena slapped Sami for insulting her.

Again, it's tacky to slap someone and use the F word on national TV.  But no real harm was done.

I am a feminist, and I would have preferred that Jada handle the situation herself.  Maybe her choice would be to make her own statement the next day.  Will stepping in on her behalf was (in his mind) intended to be gallant, but it didn't give her the opportunity to decide for herself.  That's the main thing that bothered me.

However, I do see the point of not wanting to set a precedent of this being acceptable behavior for future events. 

How can you condone this kind of behavior? I should I say lighten what he did. I guess we can go slap anyone now if we don't like what they say. 

 

2 minutes ago, Soapsuds said:

How can you condone this kind of behavior? I should I say lighten what he did. I guess we can go slap anyone now if we don't like what they say. 

While you were replying to me, I edited my post to add more clarification.

I inserted these words into my post:

HOWEVER, I don't like slaps, even minor ones, not even on soaps.  And I would have preferred that this not happen. 

There's no way that celebrities at future events will be able to make the distinction between a minor slap and a punch. 
None of it should happen. 

Edited March 28, 20223 yr by janea4old

Personally, I don't condone what he did, but I understand why he did it. 

Remember when Will was all about being a positive role model and not cussing in his rap? LOL

Frankly, that always seemed like a big veneer to me. I think as the years progressed we've seen how erratic and bizarre he and Jada really are.

#IStandWithWill. The worst thing he did was doing allowing himself to do that on camera but I totally understand why he felt the way he did

On the other hand, I will never understand why a 53 year old man felt that the devil compelled him to hit a 57 year old man in front of 11 million people on national TV right before winning an award that he had coveted for years.

No amount of discussion about poor taste, disease, or loyalty will ever explain how an actor could feel that he had the right to yell profanities at a live event, attended by his grown children, because he disagreed with a joke.

Maybe if I watched DAYS more often it would all make sense.

However, I am willing to take bets today on whether Will be asked to present the Best Actress award in 2023, as is the tradition for the prior year's winner.  Because I predict that his punishment will be that he is not invited, despite the fact that we'll all forget about this before next year's ceremony.

Edited March 28, 20223 yr by j swift

15 minutes ago, Cheap21 said:

#IStandWithWill. The worst thing he did was doing allowing himself to do that on camera but I totally understand why he felt the way he did

Then WHY did he laugh? He only got "outraged" when Jada rolled her eyes.

Jada is not a damsel in distress that needed her husband to assault another man on her behalf.

She's spouted a hell of a lot more outrageous crap on Red Table Talk than Chris Rock has in his entire routine. 

5 minutes ago, BetterForgotten said:

Jada is not a damsel in distress that needed her husband to assault another man on her behalf.

She's spouted a hell of a lot more outrageous crap on Red Table Talk than Chris Rock has in his entire routine. 

+1

Grown adults have to exercise some impulse control, especially if you’re not in any physical danger. Even if he’d simply cursed him out from his seat without slapping him, it would have been somewhat more acceptable. But you don’t put your hands on someone for not even a particularly rude joke. (I know that’s subjective, but Will did laugh at it until he saw Jada’s annoyance.) Plus, his lack of self-control totally distracted from Questlove’s emotional moment and pretty much everyone else who won after the incident. 
 

 

Edited March 28, 20223 yr by Faulkner

10 minutes ago, dragonflies said:

Then WHY did he laugh? He only got "outraged" when Jada rolled her eyes.

Because it was uncomfortable. Its not an uncommon reaction to do to mask your emotions

Maybe it's just me but I had a moment where I thought Kristoff St. John would probably have some words of enlightenment. He not only knew pretty much all of Black Hollywood but he approached his insights with a sense of equanimity.

 

 

I've noticed that as the day has gone on reactions have gotten increasingly self-righteous and hysterical.

4 minutes ago, dragonflies said:

 

 

Thats BS. Will Smith is a BLACK man in Hollywood. Trust and believe he had no power amongst that group in that room. If the Academy and Hollywood wanted to blacklist him today, he would go down the route of Monique and we'd never see him in anything of substance again. He's an actor, a well accomplished one, but he is not one of the big names that makes the power moves in Hollywood