Violence is unacceptable. Period.

[liberalmediaaddict]

If someone insults someone you care about in public you can boo, get upset and have a talk with the person afterwards in private.

What you can't do is go over and hit the person.

Ordinary people who do that get expelled, fired, ejected, arrested, etc...

Using violence to resolve conflict has become way too common in our gun obsessed country.

Lastly a lot of survivors of physical and verbal abuse like myself were triggered by everything Will Smith did last night: the violent outburst, the yelling profanity and blame the victim excuses afterwards. A lot of us had flashbacks to abusers who've done the same thing and also not been held accountable. Violence is never justified in domestic disputes. Period.

[SoCalDavidS]

1. Yes

He could have said Everything he said after the incident. Going up on the stage, and hitting Chris, was unacceptable.

His violence actually made Chris become a victim, rather than if he had yelled out what he did, and made him look like an Ass for making that joke.

So now we end up with a situation where there's plenty of blame to go around.

[JenniferJuniper]

2. The Academy supposedly has a zero tolerance

policy against violence.

Smith needs to be kicked out now. Send a message to everyone.

[leftstreet]

4. If a stranger had made their way in and punched Rock...n/t

[Raster]

5. Obviously, the Academy DOES NOT HAVE a zero tolerance policy against violence.

If they did, Smith* would have been immediately escorted out the door and removed from the premises, nomination or not.

The Academy just showed that some persons are above the law.

[LexVegas]

3. Smith is having an emotional / mental breakdown. That should factor. nt

[dixiechiken1]

7. Is he? I hadn't heard that...

From what I read this morning, he was out partying last night, laughing & "clinking" Oscars with other winners ( like "cheers" ). Doesn't sound like he was too broken up to me.

[BlackSkimmer]

10. Sure seems like it. If you watch him during and immediately after the joke, he was laughing

happily. Then he apparently noticed Jada wasn’t too pleased, and he just snapped.

The slap and then the ridiculous screaming afterwards showed a man not in control of himself.

[TheRealNorth]

13. Thats why I have mixed feelings about the incident.

Don't get me wrong- Smith should be punished for hitting Chris Rock. But if some guy was belittling my wife, or kid, or mother in a way that upset them, I might give that guy ONE chance to apologize before I smack him across the face.

[tinrobot]

14. If he was that unstable, he should have stayed home.

[Mr.Bill]

19. Or possibly just plain drunk

or otherwise medicated. Could be lots of things.

[SoonerPride]

26. So is he going to be placed in a conservatorship

Or is that only for unstable females ?

[Lunabell]

6. Nah

Slap a nazi should be a tik tok challenge.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

9. Nah. You can't even hit a NAZI, but I would be hard pressed to harshly criticize someone who did.

[madinmaryland]

21. Well, there is the phrase, "the only good nazi is a dead Nazi". That was from WWII, but

Remained for many years.

[The Grand Illuminist]

8. I firmly believe in this.

Violence is never the answer, but it's an answer. The answer of last resort.

[liberalmediaaddict]

12. It's also illegal last time I checked

Just shows rich celebrities operate under a different set of rules.

I guarantee this wasn't the first time Will Smith has become violent or verbally abusive towards someone who upset him. And unfortunately it won't be the last. Not unless there's consequences and he gets professional help.

[The Grand Illuminist]

15. He was arrested for aggravated assault in 1989

Link to tweet

/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1401712993923002369%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fmeaww.com%2Fwill-smith-1989-assault-almost-left-man-blind-resurfaces-chris-rock-slapgate-oscars-2022

[uponit7771]

24. Yeah, Smith had 40 lbs on Rock. Don't believe for a second Smith slaps Dave Chapple who is swolte

[panader0]

11. I thought this OP might be about the war in Ukraine,

you know, where innocent people are being murdered. But no, just another post about
a comedian getting a slap.....sigh.

[Torchlight]

17. Indeed. The placement and investment of passion can be telling

Often, enough for a story in and of itself.

[pinkstarburst]

16. Verbal abuse is also unacceptable. Period.

I don't see anyone excusing physical violence. I do see a disappointing number of people who are dismissing and downplaying what was done to Jada Pinkett Smith.

The old "sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me" is outdated thinking. Words CAN and DO cause real harm.

Why has Chris Rock still not apologized for his actions?

[uponit7771]

22. Comparing Jada to an athletic badass Demi More is "verbal abuse" ?! I'm not getting this at all ..

[NutmegYankee]

18. I disagree.

As a fat nerdy kid, I was bullied nonstop for years. My parents talking with school administrators (both came to Principal’s Office to complain) and even taking some of the perpetrators to court for assault did not end it. It ended one day when years of rage finally vented out in one brutal violent event where I nearly beat my tormentor unconscious. A friend of that kid then decided to attack me a week later and I threw him head first into the street and probably in hind sight gave him a concussion. I never was bullied again though and luckily faced no legal consequences. City police had extensive records documenting that I was bullied, so even if a complaint was filed, they clearly took no action.

Sometimes violence is the answer.

That said, it has its place, and Will Smith was completely in the wrong.

[Initech]

20. To me what's insane is the media referring to it as a "slap".

It totally minimizes what Will Smith did. Chris Rock got punched in the face. We all saw it, you don't need to minimize it.

[uponit7771]

23. +1, we all saw Smith LAUGHING too !! Now people are trying to gas light and say he didn't get the

... joke at first.

Naw, his reaction was completely bullshit

[Dial H For Hero]

25. If that's a blanket statement its absurd, violence is perfectly acceptable under some circumstances.