Will Smith going up and slapping the DNA out of Chris Rock at last year’s Oscar awards was tragic for he and Chris. One of the best points Chris Rock made during the special is Jada previously asked him not to host because they would not give an Oscar to Will for the movie Concussion, then when Will finally won an Oscar a few years later, he came up and gave Chris a concussion.
Rock probably had one of the most well-promoted Netflix specials in the history of the network. I got all kinds of announcements and notifications about it all the way up until it aired. His timing is impeccable, a week before the Oscars and he certainly held nothing back about how he felt about the situation with Will.
He stated in so many words how Will took out his misguided frustration on him with his “Selective Outrage” and he pointed out the physical disadvantage that he has under Will being much smaller. He mentioned how everyone from Charlamagne to the Drink Champs called Smith a “Bitch” for the move and he went on to talk about how Jada had sex with her son’s friend clarifying his “Selective Outrage” statement as misdirected frustration.
It was epic. Smith has tried to reach out to Rock for some time to no avail and it doesn’t seem like Will will have that opportunity any time soon.
Rock ended his set saying he didn’t respond to Will’s physical attack because he was raised (right) and told by his parents not to fight in front of white people. I’m not sure how I feel about that statement but it made perfect sense not to respond as the entire award show would have not only been desecrated by the act and Rock would have taken a similar fall to Will. By NOT responding he slapped Will back even harder.
Smith is wise to continue working but there is no question that he will never be able to live the slap down with several people and the act has certainly changed how people perceive him, be they fans of not.
