Chris Rock Low-brow humor and Will Smith's Violent Reaction

Great Debates
41

Well, that’s not what you said, and I still disagree with you other than the factual part that Smith smacked Rock.

He didn’t threaten him, he returned to his seat. Rock didn’t shut up, he told Smith off. Rock didn’t “obey” anything. Unless you are aware that he had further material to say about Jaden’s medical condition, which he would have continued with even though pretty much the entire audience had turned against him, then claiming that Smith made him “obey” anything is entirely unfounded speculation on your part.

Sure let’s

As I said, the only part of what you said there that isn’t entirely your speculation is that Smith slapped Rock.

42

Also, there is some history between Rock and Pinkett Smith.

This is not the first time Rock has joked about Pinkett Smith. In 2016, again at the Oscars, where Rock was hosting, the comedian said, “Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna’s panties. I wasn’t invited.” That was the last time Rock hosted the Oscars. Rock joked Pinkett Smith had skipped the event due to the lack of diversity in the awards and also in his opening monologue said Pinkett Smith was mad because of her husband’s lack of a nomination that year.

I still can’t believe that Smith actually hit Rock, and then when he accepted his award, rather than apologize, he doubled down, talking about protecting people. And that he’s applauded for it. Sure, it was a slap, not a punch, but you can’t go around doing that. I do worry about the precedence that it’s okay to use violence as long as you’re popular enough.

43

I think Rock had enough sense not to let it escalate any further because it was, you know, an awards show and not a fifth-grade playground. Unlike Smith, he remained pretty well poised through the whole thing.

44

Then why not just use his words? A open handed slap from someone his size could easily have caused harm. Regardless, it was assault by any meaningful definition and it was threatening.

45

Are we going to argue this? Smith hit Rock then angerly directed him to “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth.” Rock then agreed he would do that.

That is a threat and Rock confirming he’ll obey.

I agree, but I’m not going to say he wasn’t threatened (or struck). He was both.

46

I’m quite surprised at the gender split, assuming I’m reading that correctly.

47

“The Academy’s” story is that “they” were seated scattered “all around the building” and couldn’t meet up “in time” to discuss kicking Smith out, whatever the hell any of that means.

Now that’s a stinking, horseshit story if ever there was one. This ain’t the freakin’ Pentagon, it’s the state-of-the-art 3400 seat Dolby Theatre, c’mon! Even if they somehow couldn’t physically meet up, they don’t have cell phones or an intercom or an army of PAs with radios?!

48

What nasty response? From what I’ve seen, he mostly got laughs from the line. Including from Will Smith, before he decided to be angry about it.

If Smith hadn’t physically assaulted Rock, nobody would have remembered the joke the next day.

49

I’ve seen some short clips of Will on vacation with his family where he’s taking video on his phone, “teasing” his family none of whom smile but scowl back at him and he comes across as a bullying asshole.

If Rock had made a funny using the word alopecia directed at Jada that might’ve been a low blow. as it stood he told a woman sporting a close shaved head he’d like to see her in the next GI Jane movie. No big deal.

50

Exactly. I suspect the people making a big deal out of the “joke” part of this confrontation are neither familiar with the customary acerbic ribbing that takes place at the Oscars nor Chris Rock’s onstage shtick. Nothing Rock did or said was outside of what is traditionally expected of comics in that venue. And certainly no surprise coming from Rock who has been repeatedly invited back to the show.

51

Is the concept of “sticks and stones” now lost?

52

I didn’t see either in the theater, so Will had to resort to his own hand.

53

Eh, the only time my father ever hit anyone as an adult was when someone called my mother a cunt to his face.

My dad’s not popular, hell, even I don’t like him all that much, but he got away with it just fine. All the onlookers felt that the guy had it coming. No one pressed charges, and we never really talk about it.

It was assault by a zero tolerance level reading of the law, but there are many meaningful definitions of assault that imply that some sort of actual harm came as a result.

So if he had just said that without the slap, then would that would still be a threat?

I didn’t watch it live, did anyone? However, all the clips that I’ve seen show a pan across the audience that does not look amused.

I’m sure she would have. But you are right, most likely, only the people hurt by it would remember it, people oft times don’t really care about things like that, when they happen to other people.

Are the Oscars actually a roast? If someone agrees to go on Comedy Central’s roast, then they should sit there and take what comes. I’ve seen some pretty nasty things said about the person of the hour’s family, medical history, appearance and anything else they can think of. But they have agreed to do that.

By attending the Oscars, do the audience members agree to be roasted, to be insulted, to have their medical issues dragged out in front of the world (okay, the 17 people actually watching) and made fun of?

If this incident means that comedians stop thinking that insulting their audience and their medical conditions (other than ones that have explicitly agreed to it) is a good way to get a laugh, then I’ll have to thank Smith for being the catalyst of change here.

54

Anyone would take that as a threat. Smith isn’t telling a joke. He is being very clear.

I mean, do you honestly think that Smith denies he was threatening Rock?

55

FWIW, Ricky Gervais just posted a clip of him in The Office, joking about a woman with alopecia.

https://twitter.com/DavidBrentMovie/status/1508404231132307459?cxt=HHwWhoCz5YDq9u4pAAAA

56

I don’t think he was threatened. Smith wasn’t going to get up again. I’m pretty sure that even if he had tried to do something more after sitting down, security guys would have been all over his ass. And Rock would have been ready for it, even if only to run.

57

I have a question then. If that wasn’t a threat, then what would a threat look like?

I don’t think I’ll be convinced, but I’m curious now.

58

People in the public eye have a responsibility to be a role model to younger people. Up until now, I believe Smith has been a good example of how a man should act, and has been a reasonably good role model for younger black men, in particular. By sucker-punching Rock, he’s basically saying that it’s okay to lash out physically and publicly for what was essentially a minor insult. It sends the wrong message.

59

Smith probably meant the stuff he was shouting to be taken as a threat. I’m just saying there was no particular reason for Chris Rock to actually feel threatened. I think his response to it was more in keeping with trying to satisfy the hotheaded crazy guy so they could get on with the reason they were there rather than fearing harm to himself.

60

Not exactly unprecedented–John Wayne had to be restrained by six security guards to keep him from attacking Sacheen Littlefeather at the 1973 Oscars. Man, that guy was a total dick. And I sincerely doubt he would have stopped at a slap, and that was a 200+ lb grown ass man attacking a young woman. Inexcusable.

And I think there’s basically zero chance that Chris Rock is unaware Jada Pinkett-Smith suffers from alopecia and what that means to a black woman. You’d think the guy who wrote and produced Good Hair, which is ALL about the relationship black people have with their hair and hairstyles in this country, would have just a teensy bit of couth about ranking on a black woman who has alopecia. He knows, and he knows what it means to HER. No excuse, that was shitty–especially since Jada wasn’t even up for an award, her husband was. Ranking on a guy’s wife to piss him off is pretty tasteless.

That being said, if Jada wants to slap the taste out of Rock’s mouth, that’s up to her. She doesn’t need her testosterone poisoned hubby to do it for her. She has class, though, and is highly unlikely to do that. Bet she has some words for Rock the next time they all end up at the same party though.