2006 was when he had that infamous DUI arrest which ruined his public image. Yet that same year, Apocalypto was released with favorable criticism, being nominated for multiple Academy Awards and winning some lesser awards. It was also successful in the box office.
He was pretty quiet for a decade, staring in one film that flopped (The Beaver), then directed Hacksaw Ridge which won a couple of Academy Awards (he was nominated for Best Director).
Gibson is probably the biggest public train wreck I can think of, where a superstar destroys his image with stupid behavior. Yet it couldn’t kill his career. I expect Smith will be remembered for this, and it will affect his career, but as long as he continues to make movies he will still succeed.
I’m in the camp that believes Smith is 100% guilty and Rock is 100% innocent.
Violence should never be justified by mere words, unless perhaps the words could foreseeably result in physical harm (e.g. yelling “fire!” in a crowded venue and people are trampled to death).
Rock did the job he was paid to do, a job performed no worse or brutally than other comedians in similar situations. There was no malice in his hosting performance. It was a softball joke, and almost certainly not delivered to hurt Jada Smith.
Ribbing someone with terminal cancer would be reprehensible. Joking about hair loss, even knowing it was caused by a physical condition (alopecia), which has not been verified, is small potatoes. Punishing comic roasting with no malice by professional comedians is heading down a regrettable path. Defensive comedy has no place in an enlightened society.
Smith should be punished for what he did, but the punishment should not hurt others in his camp that did nothing wrong (e.g. revoking Smith’s Best Actor award I believe is appropriate; had King Richard won Best Picture, revoking that would be inappropriate because it could financially harm innocents involved in the film). Personal public humiliation, paying hefty charitable contributions to violence related causes, etc. would be the just way to proceed.
Rock handled his battery with class and professionalism. He should be compensated for doing the right thing in a painful and embarrassing situation. Judging by accounts of his recent concert, the public is showing their support for this talented, good natured comedian. That’s good and it’s assuring.
If I were Chris Rock, I’d develop a tight 5-minutes ridiculing Smith and perform it at every concert for the next year. If fellow comedians (e.g. Sykes, Schumer, Burr, Chappelle et al) did the same thing, that would be wonderful. Slap Smith where it hurts—his ego.
Will’s father drank and was abusive. Will carries guilt that he was young and couldn’t stand up and protect his mother.
Maybe it helps explain why Will stands up and protects his wife. His actions at the Awards Show were wrong and indefensible. I understand why Will originally got angry with Chris in 2016. Attacking Jada wiped out a pretty close friendship.
Childhood abuse is in Will’s book and he discussed it last year.
I just am not sure about that. Not with the historical issues about black women’s hair, or the fact that basically everyone I know who is a person of color or full on allies understand that aspect of it. I find it dubious that Rock wouldn’t also know about that. I also find it dubious that he wouldn’t know about Jada very publicly coming out about it when she first revealed her shaved head. He’s an entertainment comedian, and he knew she would be there. Surely he’d be caught up on that.
The only way I could see Rock not doing it intentionally is if his mouth was running without his brain engaging.
And, again, I’m not taking Will’s side at all here. I’m just not so sure that there was no malice intended. The thing is, that should be irrelevant.
Correct it didn’t completely kill Gibson’s career but it sure moved it to a completely different orbit.
Mr Smith will still produce films and be very very very rich. But the path that he was on with an academy award in his pocket, not just king but kingmaker as well, is likely going to divert some.
I didn’t watch the show, but I’m guessing Rock lobbed a great many zingers to many in attendance. I find it hard to believe he singled out one to intentionally hit below the belt. He’s a pro, while writing his material, his intent was to garner laughs, not ill will.
I saw an article with several photos of celebrity reactions, pasted together like a checkerboard, when the slap happened. The one that caught my eye was Mel Gibson. Wait, Mel’s still invited to these things? Will Smith, this too shall pass…whether it should or shouldn’t is another matter.
In ten years I may look back and think Trump was still in office. It fits—people with clouded minds storming the Capitol under some claim of moral legitimacy, better to ask forgiveness than beg permission, two wrongs make a right, all the logical fallacies. And then he gets an ovation—here’s Bill Maher on that:
And dancing later on…so much for contrition.
Mel doesn’t really hold a candle to Bill Cosby, though. It’s one thing to harbor anti-Semitic views, but quite another to drug and rape women. Was Bill at the Oscars?
And, I’m not so sure Smith was driven by uncontrolled rage, or an urge to protect the dignity of his wife when he slapped Rock. I believe on his stomp up to Rock he may have been thinking, If I slap Chris across the face, then drop the F-bomb in indignation after I sit down, the entire world will view me as as Sir Will, Protector of Women. If so, he miscalculated.
The time to apologize for his behavior was during his acceptance speech, if not immediately after the slap. That may have been the real Will Smith apologizing. Instead, he just used the speech to inflate his ego even further.
Any apology given the next day means nothing, because it’s not the real Smith talking. It’s words fabricated by his handlers in order to keep his career from tanking.
The “Real Time” host railed about how the Oscars have become a “representation” of the Democratic Party.
“Why is the D so toxic? Because they look at the Oscars and they — it represents sort of, like, pandering. It represents sort of, like, where we’re not connected to everyday people … I mean, this year was a disability, gay and race, which there should be a movie made about these topics, they’re important topics, but it looks like the Oscars only do those topics,” Maher said, referring to Oscar winners Troy Kotsur, Ariana DeBose and Smith.
To a hammer grifter every problem looks like a nail liberal hypocrisy. He can’t even condemn Smith without culture warring against the Democratic Party. I know, everyone needs to game this moment for a bit of fame, but c’mon.
This whole incident reminds of when Michael Richards heckled a black man in the audience years ago. That man did NOT charge stage and to be fair he had better reason to because what Richards was far more offensive than what Chris Rock said.
For the record what Richards said to the black man was calling him repeatedly the N-word and then this:
“Fifty years ago we would have had hanging upside down from a tree with a fork sticking out of your ass.”
That checkerboard was pasted together from when La La Land was declared the winner, and then replaced with Moonlight. Mel Gibson was not at the Oscars on Sunday.
I believe no-one in that situation would be thinking coherent thoughts. If he had thoughts, I think they were limited to “fist or slap? fist or slap? knock him down or insult him?”
Yeah, I’m in the camp that thinks they were both wrong. I think it was a tasteless, misogynistic joke, and that assaulting the presenter at an event is always wrong.
But isn’t the slap a misdemeanor crime? I don’t think Smith should be invited back to events (at least, not without a long time-out and taking some anger management training) but I don’t see this as a “cancel his career” incident, either.
It’s too bad he wasn’t charged, because being court-ordered to do some community service and take an anger management class would likely be good for him personally, and also for those around him.
But I’m also going to speak up for a lot of my friends who are in open marriages (or more often, in open committed relationships that don’t include legal marriage – but I did attend one wedding where the vows were “to put you first”, and not to forsake all others) and say that polyamory and other forms of open relationships seem to work fine for a lot of people, and I am dubious that Smith’s open marriage is directly related to his physical violence.
If you look at the link I posted, the Legal Eagle YouTube channel goes into more detail about the possibility of charges being filed, even if Rock doesn’t want to press them.
Resigning from the Academy means he can’t vote on Oscars or influence its operations but has nothing at all to do with working in film or being nominated. The great majority of people working in movies are not members of AMPAS.
