The Slap Seen Around The World

Karma is indeed a bitch and both Will Smith and Chris Rock are learning from it. One will have to do penance the other will benefit. I leave it up to you to figure out who is who.

Photo by Mirko Fabian on Unsplash

I didn’t see it, but in a way, I felt Will Smith’s anger and disappointment he had in someone he considered a friend would make such a tasteless joke at his wife’s expense. Smith’s wife, Jada, suffers from alopecia areata. A condition where the immune system destroys hair follicles resulting in baldness. A situation she had been struggling with for some time.

Rock claims he was unaware of Jada’s condition, which I find a bit dubious. First, there is the fact Jada made it known in 2018 that she suffered from alopecia. Second, in his 2009 documentary Good Hair, there is a segment where he discusses hair loss in women with interior designer Sheila Bridges who suffers from alopecia. Rock claims no knowledge of Jada’s battle with alopecia. He may not have, but he should have known better than to make fun of another man’s wife’s looks, especially at such a prestigious event as the Academy Awards.

Will’s slapping of Rock was viewed as a chivalric moment for some. But, instead of telling Rock to keep his wife’s name out of his (expletive) mouth, he should have said: ‘Sir, you have insulted my wife, for which I demand honor. Pistols or swords at dawn and bring your seconds.’ It might have convinced the millions of people watching that he and Rock were doing a comedic bit. It would have been good if that was the case. Unfortunately, it wasn’t.

Smith lost it, tarnishing the milestone he reached by joining Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Forester Whitaker, and Jamie Foxx, making him the fifth Black man to win the Best Actor Oscar. He will be known for bitch slapping Chris Rock instead of his performance that got him the nomination and ultimately his first-ever Oscar.

Will Smith’s behavior at the Academy Awards is symptomatic of what seems to be overtaking far too many people. It is a form of entitlement due to the bastardized belief of one’s position in society.

Rock’s joke may have been out of line, considering Jada’s sensitivity around her struggling with alopecia. Should Rock have known better since he covered alopecia in this Good Hair documentary? There is a side of me…