The Guardian:‘Violence instead of words’: Will Smith condemned for hitting Chris Rock at the Oscars

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Author Bernadine Evaristo is among the public figures to have condemned Will Smith for hitting Chris Rock at the Oscars, saying the actor “resorted to violence instead of utilising the power of words”.

© AP Photo/Chris Pizzello Will Smith cries as he accepts the award for best performance by an actor in a leading role for “King Richard” at the Oscars on Sunday, March 27, 2022, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

In what quickly became the bombshell moment of the ceremony, Smith struck Rock in the face after the comic made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

“Jada, can’t wait for GI Jane 2,” Rock said in an apparent reference to her shaved hair, which is a result of the hair loss condition alopecia. Smith walked on stage and hit Rock before returning to his seat and shouting: “Keep my wife’s name out of your f****** mouth.”

Evaristo, the Man Booker prize-winning writer, 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.” The four other black men who have won an Oscar for best actor are Denzel Washington, Sidney Poitier, Jamie Foxx and Forest Whitaker.

Shortly after the incident, Smith won the Oscar for best actor for his portrayal of Richard Williams in King Richard, and used his speech to make a tearful apology, saying he wanted to be “a vessel for love”.

“I want to apologise to the Academy. I want to apologise to all my fellow nominees,” he said. “Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father, just like they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things.”

© AP Photo/Chris Pizzello presenter Chris Rock, left, reacts after being hit on stage by Will Smith while presenting the award for best documentary feature at the Oscars on Sunday, March 27, 2022, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

The moment has since spawned a frenzy of responses, from delighted memes to anger and concern. The Last Samurai producer, Marshall Herskovitz, called on the Academy to take disciplinary action against Smith, while actor Mia Farrow tweeted: “It was just a joke.”

“The ‘vessels of love’ I have known or admired never acted violently against another human being…” tweeted the actor Cary Elwes.

In the UK, Keir Starmer said Smith’s actions at the Oscars fell on the “wrong side of the line”. The Labour leader said: “Of course there are circumstances and anybody who insults family members excites something quite emotional in all of us. But, on the other hand, to go up and hit someone in that way is wrong, I’m afraid … It was the Oscars, it’s got all the cameras there, millions of people watching.”

“Let me tell you something: it’s a very bad practice to walk up on stage and physically assault a comedian,” tweeted Kathy Griffin. “Now we all have to worry about who wants to be the next Will Smith in comedy clubs and theaters.”

While many were appalled by Smith’s behaviour, seeing it as an example of the normalisation of violence, they also said Rock’s comments went too far, especially after a previous gag he made about Pinkett Smith during the 2016 Oscars.

“Violence isn’t OK. Assault is never the answer,” tweeted actor Sophia Bush. “Also? This is the 2nd time that Chris has made fun of Jada on the Oscars stage and tonight he went after her alopecia. Punching down at someone’s autoimmune disease is wrong. Doing so on purpose is cruel. They both need a breather.”

Nadhim Zahawi said Rock was “mistaken” to make a joke about Pinkett Smith. “Violence is never the answer to any problem-solving, as Will Smith admitted in that tearful, heart-wrenching apology,” the education secretary said.

“I think we should also remember – and I’m the education secretary – that actually sometimes even a joke can be below the belt. When a joke is about somebody’s wife and her illness – she has alopecia – it is wrong.”

US Representative Ayanna Pressley, who has also been open about stigma faced with alopecia, tweeted and deleted a defence of Smith. “Alopecia nation stand up! Thank you Will Smith. Shout out to all the husbands who defend their wives living with alopecia in the face of daily ignorance and insults,” the deleted tweet read.

Smith’s 23-year-old son Jaden Smith tweeted: “And that’s how we do it.”

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which organises the Oscars, tweeted that it “does not condone violence of any form,” while the Los Angeles police department told Variety that Rock had “declined to file a police report”.

‘Violence instead of words’: Will Smith condemned for hitting Chris Rock at the Oscars (msn.com)