On March 27, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences held its 94th annual Oscars ceremony, where Hollywood’s biggest stars gather in their finest clothes to pat each other on the back for doing their jobs and making millions of dollars along the way. However, in an unexpected turn of events something memorable actually happened.
Before presenting the award for best documentary feature, comedian Chris Rock decided to crack a few off the cuff jokes. Things quickly went awry when a joke regarding Jada Pinkett Smith’s baldness caused her husband Will Smith to go up onstage, and slap Rock across the face before returning to his seat and shouting expletives at him.
Within minutes social media was abuzz with memes, jokes, and all sorts of debates regarding the incident. Did Chris Rock go too far? Did Will Smith go too far? Should certain things not be joked about? Should everyone just lighten up and learn how to take a joke?
As a comedian I believe all things can and should be joked about. However, as a decent human being I believe that certain subjects need to be broached with care. The mark of a good comedian is how well they’re able to walk this line.
In Chris Rock’s defense, he claims that he wasn’t aware that Jada suffers from alopecia. The autoimmune disease that caused her hair loss. Even so, the ability to wear their hair naturally has always been a sensitive subject for black people, especially black women.
Obviously Chris Rock is aware of that and I’m guessing he likely wouldn’t have told the joke had he known that Jada’s hair situation was anything other than a personal choice. I know many comedians that tell jokes for the sole purpose of getting a rise out of someone but Chris Rock has never been that type of comic.
In the interest of full disclosure I’m team Chris Rock here. His joke may have been crass but Will Smith’s reaction was totally uncalled for. Celebrities getting roasted at the Oscars is a tradition as old as the ceremony itself. Yet a grown man who did nothing when his wife cheated on him with his son’s friend all of a sudden felt the need to defend her honor over a throwaway joke at an award ceremony? Give me a break.
As for Jada, if you really don’t care what people think of your look then the least you could do is learn to take a joke about it.
The decision to move forward with giving Will the Oscar for best actor was completely ill advised. I understand wanting to maintain some semblance of normalcy on what had become a chaotic night, but to give an award celebrating creativity, and free expression to a man who had just twenty minutes earlier assaulted a comedian exercising his own free expression is a really bad look. Especially for an industry already notorious for ignoring bad behavior.
As a short, chubby, comedian with Tina Fey glasses I’ve been the butt of more than a few jokes at a comedy show. Sure, my first instinct has been to punch the person making the joke but I never have. Why? Because I’m a grown adult who understands that you should never resort to violence because of an innocuous joke.