OPINION: Will Smith gets bad rap over Oscars slap

by MELANIE CHAPMAN
Staff Writer

“I know to do what we do, you gotta be able to take abuse and have people talk about you. In this business, you gotta have people disrespecting you, and you gotta smile and pretend that’s ok,” said Will Smith in his speech after winning an Oscar for best actor; one of the most anticipated categories at the world renowned film awards.   

Moments before his win, Smith shocked viewers after slapping Chris Rock over a “joke” that was made about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Many (jokingly) call it, “the slap heard around the world.” Many viewers, including me, assumed it was a joke due to how casually Smith approached Rock and how well he took the slap.  

It’s something I stopped caring about once the award show ended. It was something I found hilarious, laughed at, then moved on, but then I forgot that’s not how people who swear they “don’t care about celebrities” react. It’s something I find myself being encouraged to write about, even outside of my classes. As a journalist, I understand, it is a hot topic, and everyone wants each other’s opinions.  

After sitting with my thoughts, I really found myself thinking about Jada Pinkett Smith. I found myself sympathizing with her compared to everyone else. As a black woman, I know how important our hair is to our culture, and as a black woman who has also suffered from hair loss, I could easily imagine how humiliated she must have felt. Chris Rock’s comment was not OK. I’ve even had fellow peers say, “I’d understand if it was cancer” which is completely dense. It’s common for black women to be the punching bag for jokes over our hair, and we’re just expected to endure it.

So no, I’m not outraged by what Will Smith did. I’m more outraged by A-list celebrities and others on the internet pretending to care about Chris Rock and his televised “assault.” Especially when said celebrities love to party on the weekends with rapists and abusers in their free time, but now they care? 

I believe people love seeing famous celebrities who have never failed or had a scandalous moment, screw up. Will Smith has been acting since the early ’90s and has never had one scandal… not one.

But now there’s outrage, people expressing that he should have his Oscar taken away, even though Woody Allen has four and Harvey Weinstein with 81 Oscar wins. Yet, no one has taken their Oscars away, and Weinstein is currently in jail for his sex crimes.  

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