Comedian Chris Rock did nothing to justify being assaulted by Will Smith, and, ever since, he’s done everything right.
For obvious reasons, most of us, …
Comedian Chris Rock did nothing to justify being assaulted by Will Smith, and, ever since, he’s done everything right. For obvious reasons, most of us, including me, are focused on Will Smith’s reprehensible and ugly behavior at Sunday night’s basement-rated Oscar telecast. Lost in all this, though, is Chris Rock, whose behavior has been exemplary and worthy of praise. Let’s start at what triggered the crybully Smith to make a world-class ass of himself in front of the whole world. Rock was presenting the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature and riffed on Jada Pinkett Smith’s short haircut. “Jada, can’t wait for GI Jane 2,” was all Rock said. It was a nothing joke. If anything, it was a compliment. All the publicity around the original GI Jane (1997) was about how amazing star Demi Moore looked. Well, at first, Will Smith laughed… at least until wife Jada, who had him cuckolded, rolled her eyes. Then, like he was starring in one of his own movies, Smith strolled across the stage and smacked the much small Rock across the face. Then Smith walked off the stage, sat back down, and started yelling at Rock: “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth.” Smith’s behavior went well beyond ugly. As I predicted the morning after, now that the shock of what happened is wearing off, people are beginning to process how ugly it was. And as the days tick by, Smith is finding himself in hotter and hotter water, which is what he deserves.
