Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage, celebrities who reacted got dragged, Zoe Kravits is being cancelled online, and Tiffany Haddish had time to get spicy with a reporter.
It seems this year’s Oscars buzz - or should we say, drama, just doesn’t want to subside. And for viewers at home, this is nothing short of amusing.
Needless to say, their unsolicited comments and opinions make for some pretty entertaining, and thought-provoking perspectives.
Before we get into it, lets start from the top:
Will Smith slaps Chris Rock
Most of us know Will Smith as a great actor, a loving father, and all-round good dude. His mellow and calm demeanour always shines through - even in the face of adversity (think, his complex marital issues with Jada and the demeaning comments she keeps making about him as a husband), but something within him just got triggered at the Oscars.
While Chris Rock was on stage performing his Oscar’s monologue, he directed what was intended to be a light-hearted joke towards Jada Pinkett Smith, calling her G.I Jane because of her bald/shaven head.
Smith seemed to laugh it while Jada was shown rolling her eyes in a clip. Cut back to Chris, we suddenly see Will charging on stage and delivering a colossal slap to the face. While Chris seemed startled, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a skit. It got even more heated however, when Will started yelling profanities at Chris. ’Keep my wife’s name out our mouth.’ was the gist of the message.
Of course, many people were confused by what caused this knee-jerk reaction - and there was no shortage of conspiracy theorists online. The overarching theme is that Will felt an overwhelming urge to protect his wife, who happens to suffer from alopecia. While it understandable that this disease may be traumatic for them to go through as a family, was Will Smith’s reaction truly appropriate? Where does one draw the line when it comes to comedy content and showing compassion for emotional responses verses assault?
Here are some of the narratives online:
"I don’t what the 'why' is but for Will to react like that, there is something way deeper going on inside of him that we don’t know about." — @cthagod on Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the #Oscars https://t.co/e7rBxTYx6v pic.twitter.com/1dTniU7muw
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) March 28, 2022
You just got to witness in real time what happens in a man’s soul when he looks over to the woman he loves & sees her holding back tears from a “little joke” at her expense. This is what any & every real man feels in that instant. while y’all seeing the joke he’s seeing her pain
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) March 28, 2022
Imagine what it must feel like to be losing your hair to the point where you have to shave it bald. You think that’s easy to deal with for anyone? You don’t think she’s cried about that many times? 2022 y’all gon have to see these men about those jokes you made about their wives.
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) March 28, 2022
The husband gets a front row seat to his wife’s pain… he’s the 1 consoling her… drying her tears behind closed doors when those cameras go off. Social media has made ppl feel that these “husbands” won’t ever run into them in real life. (Continued again(last time)on next tweet)
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) March 28, 2022
Weird way to spell Woody Allen, Roman Polanski & Harvey Weinstein.
— Briahna Joy Gray (@briebriejoy) March 30, 2022
Imagine what a shallow sense of justice one must have to use Will Smith as a symbol of Hollywood’s failures when there is such low hanging fruit. You can criticize Smith w/o losing all sense of proportionality. https://t.co/BrBAJ14CEt
Weird way to spell Woody Allen, Roman Polanski & Harvey Weinstein.
— Briahna Joy Gray (@briebriejoy) March 30, 2022
Imagine what a shallow sense of justice one must have to use Will Smith as a symbol of Hollywood’s failures when there is such low hanging fruit. You can criticize Smith w/o losing all sense of proportionality. https://t.co/BrBAJ14CEt
Corrected:
— Val ⛲️ (@ThatBKGurl) March 29, 2022
- Jim Carrey
- Alec Baldwin
- Jodie Turner-Smith
- Zoe Kravitz
- OJ Simpson
- Judd Apatow
- Hailey Bieber
- Bette Midler
- NHJ
- Kathy Griffith
- Sophia Bush
- Shannon Sharpe
- that lady from Charmed https://t.co/YYsnr8P9bt
The incident caused a stir, and evoked some polarising reactions from celebrities and fans alike. Those celebs who tried to come for Will Smith though, had to deal with an onslaught of critisicm from the Twitterverse online.
Zoe Kravitz gets involved
One celeb in particular, was Zoe Kravitz. The Batman actress indicated she was clearly unimpressed Will Smith’s actions, labelling it assault in her Instagram post.
However, folks were not having it, and started going in on the actress about comments she reportedly made about Jaden Smith in the past, as well as her perceived snubbing of the black community throughout her career.
This whole Zoe Kravitz thing is like when you laugh a little too loud at a roast and somebody go "I KNOW YOU AIN'T LAUGHIN"
— Melanin Be Geekin' (@melaninbegeekin) March 30, 2022
zoe kravitz is funny. will never forgetting working at essence and us trying to book her for interviews/covers/events/etc and her team declining bcuz we "aren't her audience" 🥴
— Bradford (@brxdford) March 29, 2022
zoe kravitz is funny. will never forgetting working at essence and us trying to book her for interviews/covers/events/etc and her team declining bcuz we "aren't her audience" 🥴
— Bradford (@brxdford) March 29, 2022
The way Zoey Kravitz couldn’t just shut up about something that didn’t involve her and enjoy being Catwoman now they dragging her on the timeline 😭
— Buffalo Appa Bites 🍗 (@woahismetoo) March 29, 2022
Zoey kravitz just started getting speaking roles in movies she talkin bout she don’t want being black to be a factor. If it wasn’t for your father and husband you would be a barista
— Mr Myxlplyx (@Directorgawd) March 30, 2022
the way everyone had so much tea on zoe kravitz but they were silent because she was loved by everyone and she is the IT girl of twitter...major example of selective cancel culture.
— Norman f*cking rockwell (@melodramaswift1) March 30, 2022
Dogging Zoe kravitz for feeling disconnected from blackness all the while tokenizing her and Zendaya in some sort of face off on who’s the better thin light skinned woman. Cannot make this goofy shit up. All because someone is uncomfortable with a man getting slapped.
— Max FD 🅴 (@maxfordanger) March 30, 2022
Tiffany Haddish faces backlash
While this tea was going on, social media also enjoyed some more light-hearted content courtesy of Tiffany Haddish. The actress and comedian had the time that evening when a reporter suggested her Oscars outfit was a “costume”.
“I’m not wearing a costume, I’m wearing Dolce & Gabbanna. It’s called an evening gown darling,” she responds playfully.
While some saw the humour in her response, others thought she was being too spicy. Then there were those who applauded her for standing up for herself. She also seemed to defend Will Smith’s actions, which added more fuel to the fire.
It’s interesting how some people can’t see how micro aggressive it was for that yt lady reporter to call Tiffany Haddish’s beautiful gown a “costume”. As if the only way black women can dress expensively or look glamorous is through performance for the white gaze but ok
— kali (@WinzdayLove) March 29, 2022
Tiffany Haddish is so embarrassing for defending Will Smith. I can’t wait for the day when she makes a joke and gets cancelled for it. She as a comedian should be defending her craft.
— Aaliyah Lester (@lester_bowe) March 29, 2022
Look at Tiffany Haddish at the bottom left. 💀If there’s mess, u can bet she’s somewhere nearby collecting info https://t.co/TrwPP0XQpk
— Tarig (@AirTarig) March 28, 2022
Tiffany Haddish defends Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at #Oscars:
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) March 28, 2022
“it was the most beautiful thing I ever seen because it made me believe that there are still men out there that love and care about their women, their wives.” pic.twitter.com/l4oXQOjwlh
Tiffany Haddish calling violence the most beautiful thing she's ever seen is ridiculous. I guess it makes sense that she doesn't get jokes because she's a terribly overrated comedian. If she is ever assaulted for saying something it's ok. According to her it's beautiful.
— Sangria Baby (@SangriaBaby3) March 28, 2022
At this rate, no one is safe from Oscar’s Twitter backlash, and we obsessively refreshing our feeds to see the latest developments and celebrities getting dragged.
