The social media world is still buzzing about the “slap heard around the world” that Will Smith gave Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars this past Sunday. People are asking why Smith did it, how could he do it, does Smith need help, or should Will & Jada get a divorce? Was this whole thing real or was this social media stunt?
People.com did an article about the reaction that Will Packer, the producer of the 2022 Oscars, had when the incident occurred and the aftermath.
According to people.com “On Friday’s episode of Good Morning America, Packer explained that a stunned Rock was still in “joke mode” backstage after Smith struck him, even calling the actor Muhammad Ali, referring to Smith’s portrayal of the boxing legend in the 2001 film Ali, which earned Smith his first Best Actor nomination.
“I said: ‘Did he really hit you?'” Packer said. “And [Rock] looked at me and he goes: ‘I just took a punch from Muhammad Ali.’ It’s exactly what he said, as only Chris can, you know. He was immediately in joke mode, but you could tell that he was very much still in shock.”
Take that for all you people who think it was scripted.
Will Paker continued to say, “He didn’t tell one of the planned jokes. He was just immediately freestyling,” the producer said. I wasn’t concerned at all. As [Smith] is walking, I figured okay… something funny is gonna happen because that’s the nature of Chris and that’s the nature of Will.”
“Once I saw Will yelling at the stage with such vitriol, my heart dropped. And Chris was keeping his head while everybody else was losing theirs,” Packer added, noting that Rock told him he was “fine” after the hit and wanted to “just get past this.”
Now, it’s time for DETV’s Tye Richmond’s opinion. These are my own words and no one else’s.
What I have noticed in the past couple of days is that there is a huge cultural difference between people.
You have on one group of people who are like “OMG Will Smith should be thrown in jail” then the other group of people saying, “Chris Rock should have never talked smack about Will Smith’s wife.”
I’m on the side of the people that are saying “Chris Rock should have never talked about Will Smith’s wife.”
The reason I defend Smith slapping Rock is because Rock took it, I believe, a step too far, by making a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s alopecia condition. Jada has gone on shows and even her own Red Table Talk to express the struggle and pain the condition has caused her. For Rock to make a joke about her condition, I think, was a little too far.
Yes, people have been saying it’s only a joke and I understand that. But we have all been pushed to the edge when someone makes a joke that hits a nerve. In Will Smith’s case, Chris Rock took it a step too far and Will lost it!
Where I’m from, you never talk about a man’s wife, children, or mother, those things are off-limits, or fighting words, as we call it.
In my opinion, the slap was not just about Chris Rock, it represented a slap in the face of society. That slap represented that will Smith is tired of the memes and the disrespect that he’s been shown over the past couple of years.
I think Keke Palmer’s TikTok video explains the differences that people see very clearly.
In the end, I don’t think Will Smith should have slapped Rock at the Oscars, maybe backstage or outside, man to man, but I do understand where Smith is coming from. He was fed up!
