Slap Happy!

While Russia continues it's abominable bombardment of Ukraine, the act of violence that captured everyone's attention was Will Smith slapping the shit out of Chris Rock. 

Andrea and I were not actually watching the Oscars when this sudden outburst of anger and violence erupted on stage. 

But we damn sure heard about it within moments as our phones blew up with the news: you will not believe that the fuck Will Smith did to Chris Rock.  

Now I am sure at some point, there have been people who have wanted to slap the shit out of Chris Rock and possibly for good reason. 

Did Will Smith have a good reason to slap the shit out of Chris Rock? And to do some in front of a televised audience of possibly dozens of people?*

*OK, the audience for the Oscars keeps dropping but "dozens"? 

Chris made a crack about Jada Pinkett Smith being in G. I. Jane 2 because of her shaved head.

In case you're wondering "Uh, I don't get it", here's a history lesson.

G.I. Jane is a 1997 film starring Demi Moore who shaved her head to portray the first woman to undergo special operations military training.

And Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith's wife, is bald. 

So connecting the dots, Chris Rock made a very lame job tying Jada Pinkett Smith's bald head to a movie that came out a quarter of a century ago. 

Perhaps a little background on why Jada Pinkett Smith is bald.

Jada has alopecia, a disease that causes among other things hair loss. Basically sometime ago, Jada was all "fuck it" with fighting her shedding hair and went all commando on her skull and shaved it bald. 

Well, good for her. 

Will Smith kind of chuckled at Chris Rock's lame ass quip.

Jada Pinkett Smith looked uncomfortable.

And this is when Will Smith sprung into action, jumped up on stage and slapped the shit out of Chris Rock. 

If you don't believe me...

“Wow, Will Smith just smacked the shit out of me,” Chris Rock said. 

To which Will Smith shot back, “Keep my wife’s name out your fucking mouth!"  

All this over a G. I. Jane joke? 

Or as Chris Rock said, “Wow, dude. It was a G.I. Jane joke!" 

So what the fuck was all that about? 

Could this have been some kind of staged stunt?

Mark Evanier doesn't think so noting that "both of them looked like assholes in different ways."

And Mark calls out the same thing that caught my attention as well: "Smith would not have been caught on camera grinning and giggling at the joke before (apparently) deciding that if his wife was upset by it, he was going to respond with a shot of toxic masculinity." 

Here's my take on this: Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have been tabloid fodder for years that their marriage is far from perfect and on the verge of collapse any day now. Of course they want to present to the world a happy and united image of a devoted and loving married couple. Seeing Jada's discomfort at Chris Rock's lame ass joke gave Will an opening to set up a different headline in the tabloids, of his proud and defiant defense of his wife because they really luuuuuuuuv each other.

Or Will Smith's just a jerk, I don't know. 

Anyway, Will Smith has since apologized to Chris Rock but this water will not completely pass under the bridge until Will and Chris sit down on some big televised event to hug it out. I'm sure Oprah's got her people on this.

How much will this hurt Will Smith? Can I look at Men In Black movies the same way?

The fact that in the same damn evening Will bitch slapped Chris Rock on TV, Will Smith got a standing ovation when he accepted his Best Actor award. 

Look, Will's been working it hard to get taken seriously as a serious ACTOR and his win Sunday night was worth the applause for acknowledging his long journey from Fresh Prince to Oscar winning actor. 

Except he just bitch slapped Chris Rock earlier that evening. 

There's been a lot of statements in the media from various celebrities who have called Will Smith's violent action as wrong and reprehensible.  

But there were voices supporting Smith, "If someone talked smack about my woman, I'd beat his ass so hard!"

OK, here's another thing: should Chris Rock have made any jokes at the expense of Jada's bald head? Yes, she has a disease so maybe not so much. But the decision to go full on bald was Jada's act of bravery and defiance so it is a matter of choice. 

Look, the joke was lame and with no sense of malice or insult to Jada intended. 

Lord knows Ricky Gervais would've been a hell of a lot worse.

And that is more than enough about this.  

OK, one more thing: