Will Smith suckered punched Chris Rock. He never said a word to Rock as he walked up to him.

[fightforfreedom]

Will Smith has issues. He could have waited and found Chris Rock back stage and gave him what for. He could have reminded Rock about his wife condition. Will Smith laughed at the joke, then he saw his wife was upset and he snapped.

At first I thought it was an act, because the joke was not that bad. Don Rickles made a career out of insulting people. I don't think Rock was insulting her condition. Maybe he didn't know about it or forgot about her condition. He was making a joke about her short hair. Then the sound cut out and you could see Will Smith was not acting. It was strange.

[tman]

1. He slapped him.

[fightforfreedom]

3. OK, he suckered slapped him, hard.

[Dr. Strange]

30. Correct.

Paper beats rock.

[catsudon]

2. it's open handed slap

because paper beat rock

stole this one from 1000's of joke this morning.


who would've thought i should've never laugh at george costanza's bold joke.

[Emile]

4. Hollywood needs to demand Will Smith get mental health before working with him again.

What violent thing Will Smith will do next?

[multigraincracker]

7. I think Chris Rock

needs some mental health help. Dismissing it as humor is pretty sick too.

[Emile]

9. Comedians have been making bald jokes for years! As a bald person

myself I don't let it bother me. Nothing wrong with laughing. Physical violence is not healthy!

[multigraincracker]

19. I think his refusal to press charges

is a credit to him and shows his pain didn’t mean a thing to him. Most men wouldn’t take a slap as violence either. A knock out punch would have been.
We all have our opinion, neither matter to them.

[Native]

20. Men, not women

[Emile]

21. So do you think being compared to Demi Moore is an insult?

[Native]

22. No, and that's not the issue.

[Emile]

23. Demi Moore might think it is!

[Native]

25. I can assure you she's not that dense.

[Emile]

26. Well what ever, that's all Chris did!

[Native]

28. Nope, that's not all he did. It was a direct reference to her bald head (context clues)..

[Emile]

31. That's right, just like Demi Moore in GI Jane!

[Native]

32. "the role" not the actress. Why is this difficult to understand?

[Emile]

33. I'm not the one not understanding the joke.

[Native]

35. You're right. It wasn't much of a joke.

[Emile]

38. You don't act like a fascist and assault someone because you didn't like their joke!

Can we at least agree on that?

[Native]

52. I don't know what fascism has to do with it but, yes, he shouldn't have assaulted him

I think everyone can agree on that. Even if Chris Rock had let loose a string of grotesque invectives all aimed at Jada, hitting him would have still been a crime (assuming he pressed charges).

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

24. Demi Moore's haircut was voluntary / temporary.

So, no comparison.

If, that is, Demi Moore actually got the buzz-cut, if it wasn't make-up and CGI.

Maybe have Billy Crystal host next year, or Jimmy Kimmel, Tom Hanks, Al Franken, Morgan Freeman. There would be more respect.

[Native]

34. I would have loved to have seen Jada slap the shit out of him!

[Bucky]

45. It's this Bad Take Day?

Cause seriously, that's a doozy

[Renew Deal]

47. Then you know nothing about Hollywood.

Mel Gibson got roles and directing opportunities long after people know he had issues. And he's far from the only one.

[Emile]

49. I know what your saying. Imagine having a coworker with that much of a temper.

You would be wondering if this person will show up to work someday armed and angry.

[Tomconroy]

5. I'm OK with Will Smith. He hurt Rock's ego more than anything else.

[USALiberal]

6. Bully growing up? Nt

[Evergreen Emerald]

8. I think he should have been escorted out of the venue

To be able to stand up and accept the award after he did that? What have we reduced ourselves to?

[samnsara]

13. i refuse to watch him in any movie now...a disgusting display

[FBaggins]

10. I wouldn't call it a sucker punch

There was no deception or distraction. He walked right up to him and slapped him.

It may not have been appropriate - but it wasn’t unprovoked.

[fightforfreedom]

14. Chris Rock was laughing as Smith walked up to him.

Will Smith never said a word and if you watch the video Smith had his head down as he walked up to Rock. After he hit him, as he walked back he had a smirk on his face. That was a sucker punch. It was a slap but Will Smith swung hard and he is a pretty big guy.

What would people be saying if Rock fell and hit his head and was injured.

[L. Coyote]

11. The uncensored exchange between Will Smith and Chris Rock

Found this polluting my Twitter feed this morning. I suspect a lot of "pop culturists" will think this is bigger news than war in Europe. How many Americans can name more actors than find countries on a map?

Link to tweet

[samnsara]

12. i refuse to watch smiths movie now..all i can think of is him being a jerk..best actor? ha!

..i was enjoying the oscars..it was so well done until there was a freaking fight on the stage.

[FBaggins]

15. Rock was the jerk. Smith just overreacted.

Rock chose to make a public joke out of someone's disability. There isn't any excuse for that.

Smith's reaction was excessive, but it's hard for me to think of him as a "jerk" for it. If someone insulted my wife in that way I would like to think that I would restrain myself, but there's a difference between a snap reaction and a conscious choice to offend.

[fightforfreedom]

17. He was not insulting her disability.

He was comparing her haircut to GI Jane. So what? I don't see that as an insult. Her hair looks good short. Before Rock said the joke he said you know I love you.

[FBaggins]

18. He was making a joke out of her looks... that were caused by a disability

I didn't say he chose to insult her. I said that he chose to make a joke out of her disability.

There's no way to spin Rock's "humor" as appropriate - he was definitely being a jerk. The only question is whether he got what he deserved. I would have preferred it if Smith used his time on stage to call him out for his insensitivity... but of course he probably didn't know that he would get any stage time.

[Sympthsical]

40. Going bald isn't a disability

Let's get some proportion here.

Yes, alopecia sucks, but throwing around that Jada Pinkett Smith is a disabled woman because of it has been one of the goofier bits of the internet this morning.

If I didn't learn about her condition because of this, I would've assumed she shaved her head for a role like most other people watching, because most of the world isn't attached to People magazine and terrible day time talk shows.

[FBaggins]

46. Fine... a medical condition. The offense is the same.

Going bald is a very common thing for a man in his 60s.

A six year old losing his hair due to cancer or a woman losing her hair due to alopecia is no more an appropriate subject for public ridicule/humor than a disability is.

If I didn't learn about her condition because of this, I would've assumed she shaved her head for a role like most other people watching, because most of the world isn't attached to People magazine and terrible day time talk shows.

Chris Rock isn't just some guy who wouldn't know of her condition if he didn't read People. He's known the couple for many years. It isn't reasonable to spin that he didn't know of her condition. You couldn't be expected to know (I certainly didn't)... but he doesn't have the same excuse.

[Sympthsical]

51. Would I say it? No.

Would I start tossing it around as a mitigating factor to even partially justify violence as many are now doing?

Also a no.

Words have meanings. "Her disability!" Jesus. Well that word just means anything now, doesn't it? I sunburn rather easily, because I'm ghostly celtic pale folk. If I go for a hike and forget the sunscreen, please do not mock me for my disability. It's a chronic condition I must bravely live with by putting on lotion and avoiding the sun.

It's just silliness that I cannot take seriously. Behold the umbrage, for it is important and pixelated.

If Rock knew (which is an if), it was shitty of him. But given these sensitive standards and the great gravity of offense, Ricky Gervais must be literally Hitler this morning.

[SergeStorms]

16. He was very vocal....

about not receiving the best actor award for 'Ali'. He accused everyone in the Academy of being racist, but only to him. He's always been full of himself.

[DenaliDemocrat]

39. Well he sure didn't retain anything from boxing training

All arm, no hip rotation- I give this a D - for technical elements

[SergeStorms]

53. You're the first person....

I've read that's critiqued Smith's style anyway.

[DenaliDemocrat]

57. Well, it's true lol

He obviously didn’t retain his training. That was technically terrible. He outweighs Chris by at least 50 lbs and has six inches on him. Didn’t even make him stumble. Either that or Chris has an iron jaw and feet of stone.

[Wingus Dingus]

27. Yes--Smith has a problem. It was disturbing to see a grown man that many like and respect

act like a lunatic. It's like he forgot where he was, or that the ceremony wasn't 100 percent about him and his wife. He ruined it for everybody. I can't believe anyone's excusing it. It's not like Chris Rock taunted their weird-ass open marriage or something.

[Emile]

29. It was a fascist reaction!

[SergeStorms]

54. Smith is a bit of a narcissist.

It's always 100% about him or his family. I really like some of the roles he's played, but he's too full of himself in his personal life. But that's him. We all have our idiosyncrasies.

[The Jungle 1]

36. This happens in the hockey rink during most games.

Only difference is they punch.
Rock knew what was coming. He tried to joke about it. I give Rock credit for taking the slap he had coming.
It would have been cool if he slipped it.

[Oneironaut]

37. It's fake, imo. The two planned it.

[uponit7771]

42. That makes Smith look like a 100% jerk for laughing at the joke he smacked a guy for telling?!

[fishwax]

41. it was a weak and cowardly thing to do

He was tested in a moment of weakness and found wanting. Such things happen.

[Xoan]

43. Did Rock warn Jada?

Didn't think so.

[Bucky]

44. I don't think you know what a sucker punch is

Walking up to Rock he gave him all the warning he needed, so there's no "sucker"

And it was a slap, so there's no "punch"

[Paladin]

48. How about this for a description of Will Smith's actions?

"A vigorous, fully-realized hand job to every filthy racist in the country."

Will Smith and his wife could have ended Chris Rock's career this morning, with a restrained, factual press conference. Look how things now stand, on account of that "no 'sucker' slap."

I'm so glad your standards weren't ever advocated for last week's Supreme Court hearings.

[fightforfreedom]

50. Chris was laughing and joking as Smith walked towards him.

He had no idea Smith was going to hit him. Smith said nothing and he was looking down as he approached Chris and then, Boom! Yes, it was a slap, a very hard slap. It was a sucker shot.

[albacore]

55. Perspective...

[Jspur]

56. Republicans are always planning to obstruct and over throw the goverment.

I have accepted this is 24/7 deal with the Republicans. This is nothing new.