The Off Topic Topic

[Admiral Yi]

First time I saw it I figured it was a gag they had worked out.  The strike sounded like a sound effects punch.

Chris is a trooper for working through it.

[The Brain]

Does Will Smith have tiger blood? Is he winning?

[HVC]

This never happened when the Oscar's was so white.



... to far

On a serious note surprised he wasn't walked out, but I guess they knew he was winning an Oscar.

[celedhring]

At the Oscars the big event seems to be Will Smith punching Chris Rock.
Watching the clip.... Its weird.
So at first will laughs at the joke whilst his wife looks pissed... Then he gets on stage and punches Chris. Nobody really cares... Until he shouts get my wife's name out your fucking mouth.
Then there's gasps of shock.
Interesting a swear word gets more controversy than assault.
What the fuck is up with America and swear words.

He didn't punch him. I would also guess it was only once he went in with that angry mantra that the audience fully realised that it wasn't a joke at all.

Yeah, watching it it's obvious a lot of people at first thought it was scripted.

[Caliga]

Does Will Smith have tiger blood? Is he winning?

He's just living that life some consider a miff.

[Agelastus]

When did we stop calling a slap a slap?

Is a man slapping a man too insulting to their "manliness" so it has to be a "punch"?

I always thought that slapping someone instead of punching them was supposed to be a sign of contempt - that they weren't worth a proper punch.

Of course, that may be because of what I know of duelling history and the novels I read when I was younger.

Edit: of course, having posted this I then read another story that does describe it as a slap.

[FunkMonk]

The Twitter takes on The Slap Heard 'Round the World are immense. Almost as funny as the incident itself 

Connecting it to anything from it being an attack on free speech/comedians to domestic violence/hypermasculinity to race, Hollywood hypocrisy, "speech is violence", and whatever else people are coming up with.

[Barrister]

Gotta hand it to the Oscars for managing to be newsworthy for the first time in a long time.  I remember growing up the Oscars ceremony was always An Event that my parents would always watch, and I would too for awhile.  Frankly last night though I had no idea it was even on.

Will Smith has always been one of those starts who seemed very easy to relate to, from Fresh Prince to Independence Day to Men in Black, to his music career, I Am Legend, Hancock...

The last decade or so he hasn't done anything I've wanted to watch but fair enough - dude is getting up there.  His attempts to make a star out of his son were rather embarrassing.  His relationship with his wife is... weird, to the extent I follow such things.

But now this?  I don't even know what to make of it.   Is it "man standing up for his wife after a joke that touches on her medical condition"?  Or is it "out of touch mage-millionaire thinking the rules don't apply to him"?


The one take I can give is: in my jurisdiction, a single slap by a man in his 50s with no criminal record, and no injuries, is unlikely to be prosecuted.

[Josquius]

Honestly it looked like a punch at full speed.
Only with the freeze frames do you see its a true slappy slap.

[Caliga]

Beeb, it's possible to stand up for someone without using physical assault as a tool to do so. 

[Caliga]

On Stern this morning they were talking about it, of course, and with regard to Smith's comments comparing himself to Richard Williams, he said "thank God Will Smith wasn't playing OJ in that movie." 

[crazy canuck]

Presumably his wife is able to defend herself.  Such an odd moment.  I think my wife would kill me for embarrassing her if I did something like that.

[Barrister]

Beeb, it's possible to stand up for someone without using physical assault as a tool to do so. 

Of course it is.

The most charitable take for Smith is that he did something foolish but understandable under the circumstances.




Is there any known history between the two?  Both being black men working in mostly white Hollywood for decades, and being roughly the same ages, they must surely have interacted a bunch of times...

Google to the rescue:  https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/28/entertainment/chris-rock-will-smith-history/index.html

Chris Rock guest starred on Fresh Prince back in the day.

[garbon]

Did you ever use directory assistance/directory enquiries back in the day? I was just reading an old essay by Fran Lebowitz and cracking up about how she described the necessary things to say if working as a directory assistance operator. My British husband, who is a year older than me, said he never heard of such a service.

[Habbaku]

Did you ever use directory assistance/directory enquiries back in the day? I was just reading an old essay by Fran Lebowitz and cracking up about how she described the necessary things to say if working as a directory assistance operator. My British husband, who is a year older than me, said he never heard of such a service.

I used one (411) twice in my teens (~20 years ago). After that, I've relied on Google or GPS for everything, as I suspect many have. I wouldn't be surprised if most people our age hadn't used it, ever, or if many had never heard of it (though 411 had tons of advertising).