“The Slap” - Why Is It So Important to Hollywood?
Will Smith–the lovable, well-rounded star that debuted his career in the show the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air–seems to have fallen from the good graces of major media sources, celebrities, and possibly the future of his career.
On March 27th, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences held its 94th annual awards ceremony (e.g., the Oscars), with comedian Chris Rock hosting. Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, and mocked her hair loss while presenting the award for best documentary. Rock said in passing, "Jada I love you, 'G.I. Jane 2,' can't wait to see it,". Abruptly, Will Smith walked up to the stage and slapped Rock on the face. After walking back to his seat, Smith yelled, "Keep my wife's name out of your f***ing mouth!"
The public has spoken up with numerous defenses of Rock, from claiming that Rock had no idea that Jada suffered from Alopecia to speculating that the joke wasn’t improvised but rather provided by the writers at the last minute to perform. There are also many defending Will Smith, saying that Rock had no right to make jokes about anyone’s health condition and that Smith was right to stand up for his wife.
Many celebrities have also made statements about the incident. Zoë Kravitz posted on Instagram, “We are assaulting people on stage now.” Mark Hamill also tweeted, "Stand-up comics are very adept at handling hecklers. Violent physical assault... not so much. #UgliestOscarMoment_Ever."
Should Chris Rock have made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair? No. Did Will Smith have the right to slap Chris Rock? Also no. The physical assault would not be the answer to a joke, even if the joke was out of hand and disrespectful. Chris Rock should have made a different joke, one that didn’t make fun of someone’s medical conditions. Will Smith probably should have reached out privately and talked to Rock individually, if it bothered him enough to slap him.
Will Smith’s actions do not excuse the rudeness and insensitivity of the slap, and Chris Rock’s joke does not excuse Smith’s blatant violence and public assault. However, the slap itself at the moment is less complicated than the consequences of Smith’s actions, and the question of if it’s deserved.
People have already come forward and speculated that Smith’s job opportunities have been compromised. Celebrity gossip sites, such as an Instagram page called Deux Moi, have claimed that some producing teams, casts, and crew members on projects Smith had committed to having anonymously admitted to being fearful of an outburst on set. Deux Moi also reported that some directors have asked Smith to resign from contracted roles or ones in progress. Smith has faced verbal degradation and criticism and has been “canceled” by some (i.e. fallen out of grace with the public).
A different punishment came from the Academy a few days after the slap. They announced that Will Smith would be banned from the organization for 10 years. This means that he could not receive any more Oscar awards, or attend the ceremony. Also, the general humiliation and shunning from the statement is a slap in itself (pun intended).
Yet, there is controversy around the Academy’s ban relating to who it doesn’t extend to. Many have spoken angrily about an apparent double standard, how many others who may have deserved to have been banned, weren’t. , For example, Roman Polanski received an Academy Award after fleeing the country to avoid a conviction for pedophilia; Harrison Ford accepted the award on his behalf.
I heard about the Smith Rock scandal for weeks, and still do, while people like Polanski require a google search to refresh the memory of who he is and what he did. Polansky’s offenses seem buried by time and relatively forgotten, which just goes to show the priorities of our society and who they deem “punishable”.
It seems very strange that a very rich 80-year-old white guy from Europe gets his crimes and reputation swept under the rug while a black man (albeit rich as well) is disgraced for something with a very large difference from pedophilia. Of course, this does not go to say that Will Smith’s actions are correct or excused. However, it is important to compare it and think about how the public's reaction differs when it comes to certain people in the biased scene of Hollywood.
