Oscar slapgate: For or against Will Smith? Celebs, Twitterati pick sides

Everyone wants to weigh in on ‘The ugliest Oscar moment ever’, as Mark Hamill (the Star Wars lead actor) called it. Topics like the Ukraine war or the plight of Kashmiri Pandits on social media have been usurped by this Big Question: was American actor Will Smith justified in strutting over to the stage at the 94th Academy Awards on Sunday and slapping the comedian Chris Rock for making a tasteless joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head.

If not for this brouhaha, the Oscars show, whose TV viewership had plummeted in the recent past, may well have turned out to be a damn squib. But long after celebrations of Hollywood’s best was wrapped up, the debate over the ‘Oscar slap’ that reverberated around the world continues to rage on social platforms.

The India picture

In India, we don’t get into a tizzy over these things. We are so used to reading about how Salman Khan threatened Vivek Oberoi and how Mika Singh slapped a doctor at a concert, or even how politician Arvind Kejriwal got slapped hard in public few years ago. We only get into a twist when Richard Gere plants a sexy kiss on Shilpa Shetty’s cheek!

Much like the way she always defends PM Narendra Modi, Kangana Ranaut meanwhile rolled up her sleeves to stand by Will Smith. And, in the end made it about herself. The Thailavii actress said that if “some idiot” had used her mom or sister’s illness to make a bunch of fools (does she mean the Hollywood actor community?) laugh, she would slap him like Will Smith did. According to her, it was “a badass move”, (this language is as trite as Priyanka Chopra trying to speak American English) and she wanted to invite Smith to her new reality show ‘LockUp’.

Bollywood star Salman Khan, known for his infamous short-temper, too had some wise words to share. (Like Trevor Noah’s reaction to the Oscar slapgate controversy, we also have to ask, ‘WTAF?’ Why ask someone who is known to have beaten up his girlfriends?) When he was asked whether hosts should be careful while poking fun at people at the IFFA press conference, the Dabangg star said that it’s important for a host to be sensitive. “Humour should always be above the belt and never below the belt.” Belt that down, all ye humourists, you have got it from the Bollywood’s big bad boy himself.

Any chance for a promo

Meanwhile, Malayalam superstar Prithviraj jumped in to treat the incident with a dash of irreverence. The actor borrowed Hollywood star Denzel Washington’s big brotherly advice to Will Smith (Denzel reportedly took the actor to one side during a break in the Oscar event and dished out sage advice which Smith sorely needed) to promote his next directorial Empuraan, which is a sequel to his 2019 blockbuster Lucifer.

“At your highest moment…be careful. That’s when the DEVIL comes for you!” – Denzel Washington.#L2 pic.twitter.com/epWLxWI1ax

— Prithviraj Sukumaran (@PrithviOfficial) March 28, 2022

“At your highest moment…be careful. That’s when the DEVIL comes for you!” Denzel Washington had apparently told Will Smith. (which is what the tearful Hollywood actor revealed in his acceptance speech of his Best Actor Oscar award for King Richard). So, Prithviraj used this line along with Mohanlal’s picture from the new film, which is the second part of Lucifer. But the sting behind the punchline was lost since it was unclear what sentiment Prithviraj was co-relating by pinning this line to his upcoming movie.

Also read: My behaviour inexcusable: Will Smith’s apology to comic after Oscar smacking

Celebrating bad behaviour

Stand-up comics are very adept at handling hecklers.
Violent physical assault… not so much.#UgliestOscarMoment_Ever pic.twitter.com/enUimEoLV6

— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) March 28, 2022

Will Smith owes Chris Rock a huge apology. There is no excuse for what he did. He’s lucky Chris is not filing assault charges. The excuses he made tonight were bullshit.

— Rob Reiner (@robreiner) March 28, 2022

While celebrities like Mark Hamill and Rob Reiner had taken a stand either for or against, Twitterati however was not so forgiving. One twitter user wrote: “Honestly, Chris Rock taking an open handed undefended hit live on TV from a dude way bigger than him and finishing the awards presentation is the most impressive thing he’s ever done in his career.”

Academy admonished

Another slammed the Academy for taking it so lightly. “The fact that Will Smith wasn’t kicked out of the Oscars and arrested for assaulting Chris Rock shows how Hollywood allows, enables, and celebrates the very worst behaviors. Workplace violence isn’t tolerated in normal industries,” pointed out another twitter comment.

While one fan wrote with a lot of feeling: “Regardless of what we think of the joke & all people involved, Chris Rock was assaulted at his job for doing his job. The academy failed to protect him. Will Smith (laughing 1st) was allowed to stay, they gave his ass an Oscar, laughed & celebrated him. Hollywood is full of sh*t.”

While American writer Wajahat Ali slammed Will Smith in a tweet:

If you’re a big enough star you can slap someone on live TV and casually sit down. Enjoy the rest of the ceremony. Win an award. Get a standing ovation. Kinda apologize but not really. Get another standing ovation and then have people defend you. America is amazing. #Oscars

— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) March 28, 2022

Taking the middle path

Actor Sophia Bush (Indians will know her from One Tree Hill & Chicago PD), who though does not condone violence as ‘assault is never the answer’, also stood up for Jada, when she said that this is the 2nd time, Chris has made fun of her on the Oscars night and he had gone after her alopecia.

Violence isn’t ok. Assault is never the answer. Also? This is the 2nd time that Chris has made fun of Jada on the #Oscars stage, & tonight he went after her alopecia. Punching down at someone’s auto-immune disease is wrong. Doing so on purpose is cruel. They both need a breather.

— Sophia Bush (@SophiaBush) March 28, 2022

“Punching down at someone’s auto-immune disease is wrong. Doing so on purpose is cruel, they both need a breather. And, she added in an earlier tweet that Jada had spoken about her medical problem openly in 2018 calling it ‘terrifying’ and everyone knew about it. “hitting him was not okay. AND his “joke” was cruel & personal. All of it, awful,” tweeted Bush.

The Academy, which was initially silent, with people wondering if all this was staged quickly went on damage control mode and tweeted the next day that they “do not condone violence of any form”. However, they followed it up with a vague statement: “Tonight we are delighted to celebrate our 94th Academy Awards winners, who deserve this moment of recognition from their peers and movie lovers around the world.”

Chris Rock (the voice of Marty, the zebra in the delightful animation film Madagascar),meanwhile declined to press charges with the Los Angeles Police Department. (the demand for tickets for his upcoming comedy show meanwhile surged) And a contrite Will Smith too penned a long post in Instagram the next day apologising directly to Rock.

“ I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness,” he wrote as part of a lengthier post.

Why is Jada silent?

While some women have openly loved the way Will Smith stood up for his wife, there’s another counter view also making the rounds. Why was Will Smith behaving like the hero in ‘Arjun Reddy’? He was snatching the agency of his wife Jada, in his desperate attempt to protect her ‘honour’. But the moot question here is did anyone ask if she needed ‘protection’?

Jada is an accomplished actor herself and certainly capable of fighting her own battles, said reports in the media. If she was offended by that joke(she did roll her eyes upward when he made the snide remark about her being the next GI Jane in a Ridley Scott movie) and she had every right to be – she could have tackled Chris Rock herself.  But, Will, said many people, regressed to a patriarchal world where a woman’s honour needs to be protected by a man. And, he received an invisible high-five from his son Jaden, who tweeted, “And That’s How We Do It.”…

Will, however, tried to make up for his bad behaviour in his Oscar acceptance speech. He brushed it off with a charming smile, ‘love makes you do crazy things’. In fact, initially, Will was laughing along at the joke. But does Jada, an Emmy Award-winner, who was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world last year, need Will to fight for her?

Even as Oprah Winfrey hinted of repercussions for Will Smith, after the big backlash, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences finally said on Monday (March 28) that they have launched a “formal review” into the incident.

“We have officially started a formal review around the incident and will explore further action and consequences in accordance with our Bylaws, Standards of Conduct and California law,” the Academy said in a statement.

In the end, documentary filmmaker, Michael Moore, in his typical funny and ironic tone summed it up: ‘As usual, when it comes time to hand out the documentary Oscar, all hell breaks loose”.

As usual, when it comes time to hand out the documentary Oscar, all hell breaks loose.

— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) March 28, 2022