It was the slap that was seen and heard around the world. The stage was the Academy Awards. Comedian Chris Rock was on stage, due to present an award. As usual, he cracked a few jokes. Then he turned his attention to Hollywood actress Jada Pinkett Smith and made a joke at her expense.
Her husband, Hollywood actor Will Smith at first seemed to laugh it off. Suddenly, he walked up the stage and slapped Chris Rock across the face, before walking back down. When he was at his seat, the A-lister told Chris Rock; “Keep my wife's name out your [redacted] mouth”.
Smith had apparently taken offence at Rock’s joke about his wife’s bald head. She had previously revealed that she is suffering from a disease known as alopecia, which caused her hair loss.
Rock’s first response was to exclaim; “Oh, wow! Wow. Will Smith just smacked the [redacted] out of me.”
Before the slap, the 94th Academy Awards went by without much fanfare. Indeed, the prestigious Oscars struggled to remain relevant over the past few years and many saw it as an award show that is becoming increasingly obsolete. But the slap brought this year’s version into pop culture discourse and will likely live long in infamy.
Smith had apologised to Rock the next day. And Rock, to his credit, did not press charges. But the slap had sparked many discussions, as well as a lot of internet memes.
A deserving slap?
What is clear is that Smith had assaulted Rock in front of those at the Dolby Theatre and was seen by millions around the world. What is less clear, at least if one follows the discussions, is whether Rock ‘deserved’ to be slapped for his joke.
Some say that Smith reacted that way because Rock had made a joke out of his wife’s hair loss, and Smith was ‘defending’ her. They say that Rock should be prepared, as a comic, to be slapped for making personal jokes.
Others argue that regardless of what Rock said, violence can never be the solution. It would be a terrible world if comedians can be assaulted by members of the audience just because they are not happy with what was said.
Unfortunately, the slap also overshadowed certain amazing achievements. Ariana DeBose made history as the first queer woman of colour to win an Oscar. Troy Kotsur became the first deaf man to win an Academy Award for acting.
Smith himself bagged an Oscar; only the fifth black actor to win the award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, in what was supposed to be the summit of his decades-old acting career.
Yet, his historic win was marred by his moment of madness just a few minutes earlier.
For Smith, there may be repercussions yet for his actions that night.
”In your highest moments, be careful, that’s when the devil comes for you”. These are the words that actor Denzel Washington told Smith after the incident.
A fitting reminder to all of us, coming from an episode that even Hollywood could not conjure up. - Mkini
SYAHREDZAN JOHAN is a civil liberties lawyer and political secretary to Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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