# So Will Smith punched Chris Rock at the Oscars last night **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comedian-jokes, talk-variety-show\ **Created:** [March 28, 2022, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-smith-punched-chris-rock-at-the-oscars-last-night/961826 "2022-03-28T08:32:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 21
**Author:** ![NJS36](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@NJS36](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NJS36)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-smith-punched-chris-rock-at-the-oscars-last-night/961826/401 "2022-03-31T01:12:59Z")
Did anyone see how Will laughed at the joke? ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-smith-punched-chris-rock-at-the-oscars-last-night/961826/402 "2022-03-31T01:13:39Z")
Yes, as I said, " I thought was better loved and respected than he now seems to be." I didn’t properly allow for how much more money and influence the Smiths have. Perhaps also I allowed my personal fondness for Rock’s work to color my perception of his status. I said that fame and money let you get away with almost anything these days, but power and influence trumps all. ---
**Author:** ![NJS36](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@NJS36](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NJS36)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-smith-punched-chris-rock-at-the-oscars-last-night/961826/403 "2022-03-31T01:14:24Z")
You said it well, Face-Intentionally ---
**Author:** ![NJS36](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@NJS36](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NJS36)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-smith-punched-chris-rock-at-the-oscars-last-night/961826/404 "2022-03-31T01:16:08Z")
I used to love Will Smith. After this, no longer. Chris Rock was doing his job. He’s a comic! Will initially laughed at the joke but Jada hated it. Oh btw, she said hours before that she just has to laugh at her condition. I guess not! ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-smith-punched-chris-rock-at-the-oscars-last-night/961826/405 "2022-03-31T01:16:44Z")
> [@NJS36](#): > > You said it well, Face-Intentionally - Seconding that. The post Face\_Intentionally put up about 20 minutes ago should be on the editorial pages of major newspapers–it’s both articulate and comprehensive. I remain disturbed by those standing ovations. I hope they haunt those who offered them. eta: fast-moving thread, so here’s a link to the post I’m referring to: > [@So Will Smith punched Chris Rock at the Oscars last night](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-smith-punched-chris-rock-at-the-oscars-last-night/961826/396): > > So. . .Will Smith publicly assaulted (who I thought was) a well-liked comedian/actor on international live television, repeatedly used the one word you definitely cannot use on prime-time television, then was asked to leave and said, “No, I think I’ll stay.” Crazily, this works. Next, he was given Best Actor Oscar and allowed to give the longest speech allowed, probably, in my lifetime, if not the history of the awards - a rambling, crazy, narcissistic speech at that. Finally he was given no… ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-smith-punched-chris-rock-at-the-oscars-last-night/961826/406 "2022-03-31T01:16:45Z")
Chris Rock just did his first show tonight in Boston. Any reports yet what he said? I’m sure he addressed it. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-smith-punched-chris-rock-at-the-oscars-last-night/961826/407 "2022-03-31T01:17:57Z")
> [@peccavi](#): > > I looked up Will Packer and it doesn’t look like he’s ever produced anything with Will Smith in it (and he has a long list of producing credits). I don’t see a connection. Will Packer produced _Girls Trip_, in which Jada Pinkett Smith co-starred. But Will Packer didn’t tell Will Smith to slap Chris Rock, and Will Packer didn’t tell the Academy not to throw Smith out of the theater after they asked Smith to leave and he refused, so I’m not sure what point is being made upthread. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-smith-punched-chris-rock-at-the-oscars-last-night/961826/408 "2022-03-31T01:23:09Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > The Smiths are richer, more connected, and have more production influence than Mr Rock. Relative to them he is one of the poors. Well, I’m not sure I’d go quite that far. Chris Rock is rich. Will Smith and family are considerably richer. But at that level the difference between a few tens of millions and few hundreds of millions isn’t nothing, but it also isn’t huge. And Chris Rock is well-liked and also pretty connected. I don’t think it is a wash, but I also doubt it is THE driving factor. I think inertia around the bad behavior of celebrities in general probably plays as much of a role. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-smith-punched-chris-rock-at-the-oscars-last-night/961826/409 "2022-03-31T01:29:23Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > > [@Cartooniverse](#): > > > > I would encourage one and all to Google who the Producer of this broadcast was. It was this person’s first time producing the show. Read up on him. And by all means, find a photograph. Then draw your own conclusions which I am in no way prompting or encouraging or stating here. > > You think the producer allowed this to happen because he’s Black? I think there is an attempt to say (without actually saying) something much more dire than that. What could we see from a photograph of the producer except their gender and their ethnicity. We are supposed to draw unspeakable conclusions from one or both of those characteristics. What conclusions would be unspeakable here? Now I’ll be the one asking everyone to draw their own conclusions about what @Cartooniverse was trying to say without saying. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-smith-punched-chris-rock-at-the-oscars-last-night/961826/410 "2022-03-31T01:29:53Z")
**Modnote** : please keep the political jabs out of the Café. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-smith-punched-chris-rock-at-the-oscars-last-night/961826/411 "2022-03-31T01:31:09Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > What conclusions would be unspeakable here? That he’s black? I’m honestly lost here. I’m in the middle of Russia. ---
**Author:** ![NJS36](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@NJS36](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NJS36)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-smith-punched-chris-rock-at-the-oscars-last-night/961826/412 "2022-03-31T01:33:48Z")
Yup! Upsetting to say the least! ---
**Author:** ![NJS36](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@NJS36](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NJS36)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-smith-punched-chris-rock-at-the-oscars-last-night/961826/413 "2022-03-31T01:34:38Z")
Orcenio, this has nothing to do with race. Both involved are black. ---
**Author:** ![NJS36](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@NJS36](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NJS36)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-smith-punched-chris-rock-at-the-oscars-last-night/961826/414 "2022-03-31T01:35:19Z")
I agree ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-smith-punched-chris-rock-at-the-oscars-last-night/961826/415 "2022-03-31T01:35:32Z")
Chris Rock tonight: > [@](#): > > “I don’t have a bunch of s— about what happened, so if you came to hear that, I have a whole show I wrote before this weekend,” Rock could be heard saying in leaked audio from the show obtained by _[Variety](https://www.instagram.com/p/Cbv4EZhO-D-/)_ . “I’m still kind of processing what happened. So, at some point I’ll talk about that s—. And it will be serious and funny.” ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-smith-punched-chris-rock-at-the-oscars-last-night/961826/416 "2022-03-31T01:35:43Z")
OMG what are we going to be banned for? I am so confused. Is this a gotcha moment? ---
**Author:** ![CoolHandCox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coolhandcox/32/16233_2.png) [@CoolHandCox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoolHandCox)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-smith-punched-chris-rock-at-the-oscars-last-night/961826/417 "2022-03-31T01:39:22Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > > [@CoolHandCox](#): > > > > Hopefully it becomes clear what behavior will not be tolerated > > I get that the decision to potentially drag a Black man out the door against his will as he was likely about to win a Best Actor Oscar might have been optics not chosen. > > But I would have thought that it was always clear that assaulting a presenter over a perceived insult of your wife is in the group of behavior that will not be tolerated. That there is question about that dumbfounds. Don’t disagree. But it might not only be optics. If I knew I only had to remove Will Smith and he would leave without further incident (which he allegedly said he would not leave when they asked him to). Sure, remove him. But in the moment, he’s probably got 10+ people with him and I’m not sure how they would react if he resisted and if they would then need to be escorted out. And how others not in his orbit would react to that scene. It’s reasonably possibly You’d probably have to stop the show for an indefinite amount of time and have dozens of security. Again, I just think that’s difficult to decide in the moment, and definitely hard to decide when it appeared resolved/calm 5mins later. I think he should have been escorted out, but I can appreciate erring on not risking escalating a situation that appeared to be calmed down. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-smith-punched-chris-rock-at-the-oscars-last-night/961826/418 "2022-03-31T01:45:35Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > the difference between a few tens of millions and few hundreds of millions isn’t nothing, but it also isn’t huge Hmm. Will Smith’s net worth (not counting Jada’s) is estimated at about $350 million, he is a founding partner of a major production company that has had major deals with Warner, Columbia, Apple, New Line, and many more. He [has](https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/how-will-smith-rebooted-470-million-empire-with-family-sex-secrets-and-netflixs-big-risk/news-story/488c17f12cb5240594111d562307ca5c) “111 million followers on Facebook, 6.18 million on Instagram and 9.85 million subscribers on YouTube … nearly six times more YouTube views than the most followed person on Instagram” Chris Rock is no pauper. Net worth $60 million apparently. Not sure if his production company Chris Rock Enterprises still exists. His social media impact is not even a fly on the window of the Smiths. The dollars differential is large, the power differential however seems huge. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-smith-punched-chris-rock-at-the-oscars-last-night/961826/419 "2022-03-31T02:07:24Z")
My post was strictly FYI. 🙄 Just saying. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-smith-punched-chris-rock-at-the-oscars-last-night/961826/420 "2022-03-31T02:08:41Z")
So Will Smith has more clout, ensuring that, outside the brotherhood of comedians, Chris Rock will still be apportioned some percentage of blame. After Stephen Colbert laid into W at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, the next year featured the comedy stylings of Rich Little. Based on that, next year’s Oscars will wow us with red carpet haute imperméable, since the jokes will be supplied by Gallagher. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-smith-punched-chris-rock-at-the-oscars-last-night/961826.md?page=20) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-smith-punched-chris-rock-at-the-oscars-last-night/961826.md?page=22)