The Will Smith slaps Chris Rock thread - plus Sam Jackson gets his Oscar

The slap is the number # 1 story in Ukraine lol

punisher1974 said:

Too bad we don't have Moe and the other Stooges. They perfected it.

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For Asta....

edonian said:

Well, that was embarrassing to watch lol. They shouldn’t invite him back. And based off what he said in his speech makes it all the more humiliating. He should’ve let it slide. These public figures should be used to getting targeted. Whether it’s from the media, fans or their fellow actors, comedians, etc. Unfortunately, that comes with being a public figure. And anyway, Will and Jada aren’t super private about their personal lives, what did he expect? People are too sensitive these days.

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I feel bad for Troy Kotsur. I thought he did an incredible job in CODA. If you won an Oscar this year, the entire night and event for you was clouded by all of this mayhem with Smith/Rock/Pinkett.

While I felt many of the other winners were situations of internal Hollywood politics/marketing, I think Kotsur actually just plain flat out won over other contenders. Sometimes a performance is good enough where you can't deny a person. Apparently lots of people in that town absolutely despise Tommy Lee Jones, but he was fantastic in The Fugitive and it was hard to deny him that way. Bobby Cannavale in one season of Boardwalk Empire is another example of one person completely changing the entire dynamic by themselves.

I feel badly also for the people involved in I Am Legend 2. Apparently Stephen King and many other writers talk about the prolific influence that Richard Matheson had on them on how they approached their craft. The actual short story is very complex when you get to the questions of the human condition involved, much moreso than the Will Smith movie. But the issue remains the same, Will Smith's name now acts as a kind of controversy that impacts how other people are trying to find work and make a living. They don't have hundreds of millions like Smith does to fall back on.

One interesting turn of events is maybe Will Smith will start playing bad guy roles. Some people just do better at them. I'm not a huge John Travolta fan normally, but he plays a great bad guy.

Sometimes I forget why so many people lock into their video games and stare into their phones all day. And I understand it to some degree. This kind of stuff makes people want to disconnect from society overall. It's not just this incident, it's a full range of stuff that piles on. It's like Black Mirror and what Charlie Brooker did with that show will end up being reality.

Something I have to remind myself about is to see the light in choosing to disconnect at times from the mainstream (because it's just toxic shock marketing social media fueled clickbait) and just appreciate the good people I do know and care about. There are good people out there, and when you see the sea of crappy people and crappy behavior, it's a neon sign to appreciate the decent people you do know. You can't change the world, you can only change yourself.

I have to be honest. If someone stormed up on stage to try to hurt me, I'd probably stab them in the throat right there. I'm not in the violence is never the answer camp. I'm in the "If You Do Something, Do It Right" camp. Personally, I felt Chris Rock should have just fought. Just start hammer fisting Will Smith and get to the ground and beat the life out of him. If people want confrontation, give it to them.

Let's steer away from sociopolitical topics, i.e. race, otherwise, this thread will be closed.

Thread cleaned.

GordonGekko said:

I have to be honest. If someone stormed up on stage to try to hurt me, I'd probably stab them in the throat right there. I'm not in the violence is never the answer camp. I'm in the "If You Do Something, Do It Right" camp. Personally, I felt Chris Rock should have just fought. Just start hammer fisting Will Smith and get to the ground and beat the life out of him. If people want confrontation, give it to them.

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Violence is a tool, but it remains a toxic and dangerous one. In this world it's sometimes required and I have no issue with employing it if pressed, but in that situation? I think Rock had more to gain by allowing Smith and his actions to sabotage himself.

GordonGekko said:

If you won an Oscar this year, the entire night and event for you was clouded by all of this mayhem with Smith/Rock/Pinkett.

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The Oscars is all about the jokes and drama. The awards are irrelevant. Ego boosting and that is all.

Roasting will be removed from the oscars.

Poor Jada. Will couldn't have made it any worse!

greygoose said:

The Oscars is all about the jokes and drama. The awards are irrelevant. Ego boosting and that is all.

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Peter Jackson has come out and said without the LOTR trilogy and the Oscar win for ROTK, he would have never been able to make King Kong, which was a very personal and coveted project for him.

If you win an Oscar, you get some freedom to pick and choose your next project. Jackson IIRC talked about how that kind of success allows you to get the financing you need which might not be there otherwise. Once you win, you draw general audience appeal in seeing your next project.

In that regard, I think it's a pretty powerful potential tool for those who do win. Let's say Jesse Plemons won this year. That would likely open him up to some opportunities to headline a big budget movie. Maybe. But it would create a better chance than not otherwise.

While I'm not a huge fan of Hollywood's mutual admiration society, I just don't see much value in one guy ruining a night for everyone. What did Ariana DeBose do wrong? This was a big moment in her life. She didn't ask for the controversy in West Side Story, she didn't write the script or make the choices that Spielberg made and she didn't make Rock tell a joke or have Will Smith hit someone.

Lauryn Hill/Jim Carrey/Bill Burr in the videos above shows they all had to start somewhere and it probably was painful and brutal for many before they became stars or famous. If the public wants to hold celebrities to real people standards, then the public has to see these celebrities as something besides caricatures.

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To be clear he committed a Battery not an assault. If he walked up and swung on Chris that is an assault. Chris does not have to press charges as it was a crime not only seen my millions but also recorded. Irregardless of Chris pressing charges he still should be charged with the crime. Good news for fans with the DA is Los Angeles being Gascon the no charges will be filed. We are supposed to live in a civilized society. There is no equity as his wealth and status will probably keep him out of jail. In most cases in LA he should have been arrested and issued a ticket for a court appearance. He lost the right to come up and receive his award. There is no excuse for his actions whatever his reason.

ifrack said:

the DA is Los Angeles being Gascon

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Talk about someone needing to be slapped.

I can't wait for Will to fall on hard times so that he's forced to do a slap-order business -- pay him $200 and he'll slap anyone; your boss, your wife, that cheating boyfriend, that creepy uncle, anyone.

GordonGekko said:

If you win an Oscar, you get some freedom to pick and choose your next project. Jackson IIRC talked about how that kind of success allows you to get the financing you need which might not be there otherwise. Once you win, you draw general audience appeal in seeing your next project.

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I think the effect of such a win may be a bit dulled now. Many recent Best Picture winners are films few people have seen by directors few people have heard of. And since no one watches the ceremony anymore, they may stay that way.

Maybe that's not the case in artsier circles, but a big-budget blockbuster isn't measured by the same metrics as Best Picture nominees. At least not anymore. The Russo Brothers have gotten plenty of work without such a win.

Blade3327 said:

I think the effect of such a win may be a bit dulled now. Many recent Best Picture winners are films few people have seen by directors few people have heard of. And since no one watches the ceremony anymore, they may stay that way.

Maybe that's not the case in artsier circles, but a big-budget blockbuster isn't measured by the same metrics as Best Picture nominees. At least not anymore. The Russo Brothers have gotten plenty of work without such a win.

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Ironically the Russo’s new movie is an Oscar contender lol

ZE_501 said:

Violence is a tool, but it remains a toxic and dangerous one. In this world it's sometimes required and I have no issue with employing it if pressed, but in that situation? I think Rock had more to gain by allowing Smith and his actions to sabotage himself.

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Sometimes tension and old bad blood builds up, and then two guys just need to fight it out. That's not politically correct to say in today's modern PC society, but I find it to be consistently accurate from my POV.

Fighting is just another form of human communication.

Chris Rock didn't quite know what Will Smith was going to do. But Will Smith didn't know how Chris Rock was going to react. We don't really know people, not really. We don't know the deep down type upbringing or value systems or life experiences that Chris Rock has had, I'm not talking about press friendly or media friendly talk given in interviews designed to market something, I'm talking the things that drive instinctive and visceral reactions.

I can't speak for any of you, but I'm not just going to let someone put their hands on me. I'm not going to make the assessment "Oh, he's just going to slap me and walk away" If both Chris Rock and Will Smith thought that, then that perspective was a real mistake ( amongst many Smith made that night)

The Academy sending Smith a harshly worded letter and saying you can't go next year is not enforcing a lesson. If Chris Rock took Will Smith to the ground and went full "Hulkbuster Punching Hulk In A Not Shockingly Mediocre Ultron Movie" on him, then that would be enforcing a lesson.

GordonGekko said:

I can't speak for any of you, but I'm not just going to let someone put their hands on me. I'm not going to make the assessment "Oh, he's just going to slap me and walk away" If both Chris Rock and Will Smith thought that, then that perspective was a real mistake ( amongst many Smith made that night)

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Context is everything. In a professional environment I'd likely be happy to take the hit and let the other party burn themselves. Outside of that environment ... dude I was an amateur fighter for many years, there are a number of things I might do but I don't like to make promises because every situation is different.

Am I going to retaliate against some drunk yahoo? Most likely. A co-worker with a million witnesses -- probably not. A hobo or tweaker? Not unless I know I can safely immobilize them because I don't want their likely diseased blood, saliva and tissue on me, or in my mucus membranes or bloodstream.

GordonGekko said:

If Chris Rock took Will Smith to the ground and went full "Hulkbuster Punching Hulk In A Not Shockingly Mediocre Ultron Movie" on him, then that would be enforcing a lesson.

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You paint such a pretty picture.

AMPAS new statement:

"While we would like to clarify that Mr Smith was asked to leave the ceremony and refused, we also recognize we could have handled the situation differently.”

So when they ask you to leave the nightclub after you smacked a guy because he made fun of your girlfriend, you have the option to refuse?

ZE_501 said:

Context is everything. In a professional environment I'd likely be happy to take the hit and let the other party burn themselves. Outside of that environment ... dude I was an amateur fighter for many years, there are a number of things I might do but I don't like to make promises because every situation is different.

Am I going to retaliate against some drunk yahoo? Most likely. A co-worker with a million witnesses -- probably not. A hobo or tweaker? Not unless I know I can safely immobilize them because I don't want their likely diseased blood, saliva and tissue on me, or in my mucus membranes or bloodstream.


You paint such a pretty picture.

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True. Rock isn’t under scrutiny, Smith and the Academy are. His ticket sales have increased and he’s come away from this looking the bigger man. Hard to imagine that him getting physical with Smith would’ve ended as well for him as taking the slap and getting on with it.

There are few people I find as insincere as Will Smith. Schwarzenegger is another one.

It's in their phony laugh.

Rock wanted no part of Will Smith






Will can knockout an Alien if he wanted too

Only one Rock that Will should be afraid of

Wor-Gar said:

There are few people I find as insincere as Will Smith. Schwarzenegger is another one.

It's in their phony laugh.

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I’ve never understood his appeal. Always figured it was a cultural thing, like I’d have to be American to ‘get’ it. I’ve always had a soft spot for Arnie tho, for all the reasons Bill Burr talks about in his ‘gold digging whores’ set.