SURREY%20ROCKS%20-%20APRIL%202022 - Flipbook - Page 14
celebrities
everyone’s talking about...
WILL SMITH SMACKGATE
Will Smith’s attack on presenter Chris
Rock has taken headline news at the
Oscars this year, with the shock slap
for commenting on his wife Jada
Pinkett Smith’s buzz cut being all
anyone can talk about.
The glitz and glamour of
Hollywood’s most treasured
awards ceremony (who won
what by the way?!) spiralled
downhill when actor Will
Smith stormed the stage
to retaliate against Rock’s
alleged ‘joke’ about his wife
Jada’s alopecia.
Rock asked if Jada, who
has a shaved head, “can’t
wait to star in GI Jane 2”
- in a joke that majorly
backfired.
Smith,
53,
sitting near the front of the
stage, noticeably lost his
temper (as he saw Jada
grimace and roll her eyes)
and went up to presenter
Rock and slapped him
VERY hard around the
face - to the surprise of all the
onlooking guests.
Rock was heard to have said:
“Uh-oh” as Smith approached
and after the almighty slap
said, “Wow, wow, Will Smith
just smacked the s*** out of
me.”
As Smith sat down,
he said angrily to Rock:
“Keep my wife’s name
out of your f***ing
mouth.”
Rock insisted he
was making a joke,
although
Smith
repeated
his
sentiments
again,
raising
h i s
voice,
to
which
Rock replied, “I’m going to. Okay.”
Bradley Cooper was later seen calming
Smith down as did Denzil Washington, and the show
(as it does in LA) went on.
Forty minutes later, Smith went on to win the Best
Actor award for his role in ‘King Richard.’ He came
14 SURREYROCKS | ISSUE 08
on stage and accepted
the
award
tearfully
responding
to
his
outburst saying: “I want to
apologise to the Academy,
I want to apologise to my
fellow nominees.”
There was noticeably, no
apology to Chris Rock during the speech.
Smith thanked his mother and made a mention to
“love makes you do crazy things” but not relating to
the ‘incident’ - probably the most shocking event ever
to happen in the Academy Awards 94-year history.
Smith was later seen enjoying his evening with his
family at the Vanity Fair After Party seemingly without
a care in world. Although, every single press article on
Monday was slamming him. Many saying he should
have his Oscar revoked.
The Academy has officially responded with a
comment that “It does not condone violence,” but no
mention of any Oscar revoke for Smith.
Chris Rock has been questioned by the LAPD to see
if he wants to press charges – which he doesn’t.
There has been a long-running feud between the
two actor/comedians according to reports. A swipe at
Smith’s wifes medical condition may have been a low
dig on Oscar’s night but Rock is a comedian and was
appointed to generate laughs from the crowd. On the
other hand, Smith was defending his wife’s honour and
a low joke aimed at alopecia sufferers is not a good
thing to do especially given the ‘Woke Generation’ we
live in.
However, is violence the answer? A well thought
out, comedic comeback by ‘Fresh Prince’ actor Smith
would have been so much more effective and a lot less
damaging to his career.
Smith has defended his outburst by saying he is
seeking therapy for his troubled childhood. His defence
of his wife apparently stems from not standing up to
his father as a child. In his memoirs, published last
year, Smith states standing by and doing nothing as
his alcoholic father beat up his mother and that it has
haunted him for most of his life.
“When I was nine years old, I watched my father
punch my mother in the side of the head so hard that
she collapsed. I saw her spit blood. Within everything
that I have done since then - the awards and accolades,
the spotlights and the attention, the characters and the
laughs - there has been a subtle string of apologies to
my mother for my inaction that day,” Smith revealed
saying he felt like a coward.
It remains to be seen what will happen in this ongoing
Oscars saga. But for now - with Smith delivering a
public apology to Rock at the time of going to press hopefully the 2022 Oscar furore will be old news soon.
Smith certainly hopes so.
