It was the moment the 2022 Oscars will sadly be remembered for.
The moment involving that ugly incident that occurred on stage after Chris Rock made a hurtful joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, and Pinkett Smith’s husband Will Smith walked on stage and hit Rock in the face.
Smith, who just moments later was invited on stage (this time officially) to accept an Oscar, did not apologise during his acceptance speech. Rather, he defended his actions with the idea that “sometimes love makes you do crazy things”.
Smith has issued an apology this morning.
“Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive,” Smith began his Instagram post. “My behavior at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. 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.”
“I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. 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. “
“I would also like to apologize to the Academy, the producers of the show, all the attendees and everyone watching around the world. I would like to apologize to the Williams Family and my King Richard Family. I deeply regret that my behavior has stained what has been an otherwise gorgeous journey for all of us.”
“I am a work in progress.”
So is it enough?
Some people believe it’s too little, too late.
During the ceremony, he ended his speech simply by saying, “I want to apologise to the Academy, I want to apologise to all my fellow nominees. I hope the Academy invites me back” — but he never directly apologised to Rock.
Actions speak louder than words, and so, for now, Smith’s assault will likely be remembered as the worse act (Smith’s was criminal) — but we don’t condone the joke Rock made.
What’s interesting is that after Smith made his very public outburst, he was seen tearing up, needing to be consoled by his male Hollywood stars (Denzel Washington, Tyler Perry and Brendan Cooper were seen comforting Smith after his attack on Rock).
Where was Jada in all this? Why don’t we see her be comforted? Wasn’t she the one who was wronged by Rock’s joke?
Clearly what was demonstrated on Sunday night was, again, a typical and sad conclusion that women’s pain and hurt can be used from everything to attempting to make people laugh, or for issuing a violent act on another person.
I found Smith’s Oscars speech particularly insidious, because instead of apologising and owning his actions, he became defensive, and tried to justify his assault under the oath — “Love will make you do crazy things.”
That is no excuse for violence.
He then went on to describe the character he had been playing — Richard Williams — as a “protector of his family,” almost as if playing this character was some kind of excuse for his behaviour.
“I’m being called on in my life to love people and to protect people, and to be a river to my people.”
“You’ve got to be able to take abuse, you’ve got to smile and pretend like that’s OK.”
“Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family”.
“I know to do what we do, you gotta’ be able to take abuse and you gotta’ be able to have people talk crazy about you.”
“In this business, you’ve gotta’ have people disrespecting you, and you’ve got to smile and pretend that’s okay.
“I want to be a vessel for love. I want to say thank you to Venus and Serena and the entire Williams family for entrusting me with your story. That’s what I want to do, I want to be an ambassador for that kind of love, and care and concern.”
In a now deleted tweet, Hollywood director Judd Apatow wrote:
“He could have killed him. That’s pure out of control rage and violence. They’ve heard a million jokes about them in the last three decades. They are not freshman in the world of Hollywood and comedy. He lost his mind.”
Rob Reiner tweeted:
Will Smith owes Chris Rock a huge apology. There is no excuse for what he did. He’s lucky Chris is not filing assault charges. The excuses he made tonight were bullshit.
Bernadine Everisto tweeted:
What a thing to wake up to. Only the fifth black man in nearly 100 years to win an Oscar for male lead, and the first in 16 years, resorts to violence instead of utilising the power of words to slay Chris Rock. Then he claims God and Love made him do it.