There are certain times in your life where you feel like universe is aligning. Today is one of those days. One of the main reasons why this blog was created is so when crazy things happen whatever thoughts I have I can just write them in that moment and have you guys can read them. No real editing, no filter, no real attention to every detail, just writing on some real stream of consciousness type shit. Will Smith slapped the shit out of Chris Rock at the Oscars and I have never been more happy to have a blog.
Let's discuss the facts first. On Sunday March 27th 2022 at the Academy Awards or Oscars (btw who the hell is Oscar? And why are these awards named after him?) Chris Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett-Smith, Will Smith’s wife. The joke was “Jada, I love ya. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it!” Pinkett-Smith was miffed by the joke given her issues with alopecia and an eyeroll from her ensued. We have seen comedians at awards show poke celebrities in the ribs about their lives numerous times. Some take it in stride and some get offended it’s the game. That’s the job and the essence of comic, they will say anything for the laugh. But what happened next? Forgive this pun but Will was finna make some “trouble in the neighborhood.” Smith walked on the stage approached Rock and slapped him like yo mama would when you thought she was one your “little friends” (speaking from experience on that one) and that was the tip of the iceberg. After the slap heard round the world a visibly shocked Chris Rock said “wow, Will Smith just smacked the shit outta me.” Besides the very accurate description of events by Chris he literally said in that moment what we were all thinking. That again is the comedian’s job. To say what we are all thinking, but we would never say out loud. After Rock’s refreshingly honest recap at what just took place, Will Smith was then shown on camera and heard saying “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth!” His actions I feel is like why you want to become a husband, just so when someone say some ish bout your girl you can go and tear shit up and honestly who can blame you for it? A husband has to protect his wife period. This moment though is just the unfortunate crescendo of a wild ass 2 years for the Smiths.
The advent of social media and the TMZ-ification of the world has basically monetized privacy. With every new update into the software of society there are pros and cons. The pros of this new age is more contact with noteworthy people. Celebs, athletes, and public figures are more accessible to us which is cool because you probably will not ever meet Will Smith or Chris Rock, but you can follow along with their life and even share a few words with them on IG or Twitter. I’m not even going to be on my old man and say its not a cool thing because getting retweeted by or having a short dialogue with a famous person is dope I can’t even front. But in this age where there’s less of a block in between the celebrity- a person with a lot of money and status but a person nonetheless, and fans- people who have less money and status who may put these celebrities on a pedestal and forget their humanity is where the cons come in.
You can argue that Will and Jada’s wounds at this moment are self-inflicted. That Red Table seems more and more like an electric chair to their public images and it’s their creation. Frankly, there are certain things my ass just shouldn’t know! If they never made that show we would have never learned about their marital issues, relationship woes, and other private details about them. Yet the topics discussed by them are things that we all go through. Women and men have had problems since two people ate an apple a long time ago. The Smith’s aren’t much more different than me, the only difference is I be on Fordham Road and they be on Rodeo Drive, that’s literally it. We are only different in lifestyle not in character or human essence. That Red Table foolishness sort of brought him back down to earth, let some of the air out of his tires, sunk his battleship, and he has been publicly seen in a manner he has never been seen before. People like J. Cole used to rap about how they wanted that Jada and Will love and no one will say anything like that now! To some degree it is their fault but shoot haven't we all been in a few “entanglements”? Humans cheat, humans lie, and humans slap other humans when they feel disrespected.
I’ve seen a lot of Jada blame on the World Wide Web and also I can see the validity in that also. Honestly she be having Will looking allllllllll (10 L’s) kinds of bad out here. From the Tupac Shakur stories, the entanglements, and the way it seems she doesn’t protect Will in the ways he will protect her. All fair points and we can argue this till we are blue in the face about who’s really to blame but we cannot ignore Jada’s role in Will’s actions. We just cannot. And in reference to the privacy portion of this piece “there are certain things my ass shouldn’t know!” Shutting the fuck up is definitely super underrated in 2022, and I’m sure they both wish they did a little more of that earlier. Attacking her relentlessly isn’t necessarily appropriate but Will turning into Bernie Mac's character from the Chris Rock movie “Head of State” is the absolute pinnacle of irony!
Will Smith had a moment, we all have moments, and fun fact not the first time Will Smith smacked a mofo either. This shit was the culmination of what happens when you remove the veil and make private business public. So use caution before you start running your mouth, and that goes for the celeb and for the average Joe. And they need to throw that damn Red Table in the trash ASAP.
Lastly I'll leave you with my cousin's thoughts on the situation. He like Chris Rock said what we are all thinking! Talk to em Cuz!
Video courtesy of Samuel Rogers @mrrogers_no_sweater on Instagram
-Denzel Rodgers
IG: @rodgersneighborhood
Twitter: @rodgersnghbrhd
Cover image courtesy of:
Chris Pizzello | Credit: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP