On the Will Smith Debate

By: Nhan Phan

We have seen the memes, we have seen the parodies, and I am sure the phrase “keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth” will go down in history as one of the most iconic lines ever (and by the former Prince of Bel-Air too!). When Will Smith slapped Chris Rock and the 94th Academy Awards earlier this month, the internet exploded. The debate brought many of society’s biggest flaws to the surface and highlighted the toxic culture of popular media. 

A month on, how has the slap seen ‘round the world changed it?

First of all, let’s talk about the slap itself. To provide some context for those who have not yet seen or know fully about the infamous slap: Chris Rock was presenting the award for Best Documentary Feature during the Academy Awards when he made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith’s wife. The joke said, “Jada, I love you – I can’t wait for GI Jane 2.”

 Rock was referring to Smith’s openly-discussed struggle with alopecia, a sudden hair loss condition. Will Smith did not take the joke well— in fact, he took it so poorly, he got out of his seat, walked up on stage, and slapped Chris Rock live on national television. He then promptly returned to his seat, and yelled the infamous aforementioned phrase twice. Later that evening, Smith won Best Actor for his portrayal of Serena and Venus William’s father in King Richard. He apologized to the Academy and mentioned what Denzel Washington said to him after the incident: “At your highest moment be careful, that's when the devil comes for you,” but did not mention Rock explicitly.

Days after the incident, Smith issued a public apology to Chris Rock, saying, “jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada's medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally." He wrote, "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 then resigned from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, which barred him from attending their sponsored events for the next 10 years.

If you ask me whether I think Will Smith was right or not, I wouldn’t be able to give you a straight answer. On one hand, Will Smith had every reason to defend his wife; Jada Pinkett Smith had previously openly discussed her struggle with alopecia, which causes the hair loss. His slap could have been argued as him defending his wife’s dignity on national television, sending a statement to those who make fun of the condition. 

On the other hand, he was first seen laughing at the joke, to his wife’s chagrin. I also don’t know if a slap was the best solution. Perhaps, what Smith did on stage brought an emphasis to the fact that there are always two ways to go about resolving an incident: talking about it or resorting to violence. Clearly, Smith’s actions demonstrate the latter. In today’s world where so much of our “resolving” of problems involves violence, what Smith did only reinforced this notion. Assault should never be the way to go about anything. 

I am angry at Will Smith. The Oscars are about honoring the professionals who bring stories to our screens and those who embody the best in art and culture. It is a shame that this incident where one man let his emotions get the best of him took the spotlight away from the filmmakers, writers, actors, musicians, and designers who deserve recognition for their work. I wish that Smith handled his emotions so the incident could never have reached its climax and taken center stage live.

 I also have to say, Chris Rock handled the incident well. He diverted attention back to those who deserved recognition after the incident, and he did so gracefully, selflessly, and appropriately. For those reasons, I cannot give you a full conclusion on what I feel about this incident because it is simply not in my place to judge one’s intent or judge one’s decisions without knowing everything that happened around them. To do so uninformed disregards the other’s point of view, and I am sure both Smith and Rock have their own versions of the story. The only thing I can say is that violence should never prevail. 

As the slap happened, Twitter erupted into a firestorm; #whatjusthappened was trending. Trust me, I was on it too. News outlets jumped onto the incident, reporting it on their sites at a breakneck pace. Some articles had clickbait titles, some were confused as to what happened. Either way, a debate was triggered around who was in the right. This plain reaction to what had happened reflects society’s biggest flaw: we are way too quick to jump to conclusions.

 If this slap had not happened, Twitter had not erupted into a firestorm, and CODA winning Best Picture was the main highlight of the night, I would not have written this article. I think this speaks to a larger trend in today’s society— we only react when things go wrong. We prey on moments where celebrities, often figures of high influence or esteem, mess up. I will refer to those on social media as “netizens.” 

Being a celebrity comes with its risks: every action, every statement, everything that a celebrity does come under intense scrutiny. What this reveals about the general social media audience is that they are interested in moments where the celebrity messes up, does something wrong, or takes a misstep. They are interested in drama. Nothing is more engaging than reading gossip about a celebrity scandal online. The feeling of being in on the secret, preemptively judging someone because of one thing that they do makes us feel better about ourselves. There is nothing more gratifying than to say, “thank goodness I was not there,” or “I’m so glad I’m not [insert person].” Nowhere is this clearer than in the response to that slap.

Netizens love the gossip, they love to judge, and they sure as hell love to debate. What the slap reveals about the toxic culture of popular media is that humans, somehow, want to see other humans mess up because it makes them feel better about themselves. The fact that the netizens on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc. were so fast to respond to this slap is because they saw someone that they know, someone famous, assault someone else. It’s drama. It’s content. It’s entertainment. Caught in the spur of the moment, netizens often forget that celebrities are humans too. They are always so quick to judge or declare that either “Will Smith will pay for this,” or “Chris Rock is insensitive,” without knowing the full story. Perhaps, Chris Rock did not know about Jada Pinkett Smith’s condition with alopecia. Perhaps, Will Smith was urged by his wife to act and to make a statement. We will never know the full story.

Either way, netizens are way too quick to jump to conclusions to the point that they often disregard the humanity of the celebrities in question. This places immense pressure on celebrities to present the best picture of themselves possible, and thus creates a toxic popular media atmosphere. This slap has brought this toxic atmosphere into center stage and it forces us to reconsider the way we treat celebrities versus the way we treat those who we know.