Will Smith

As Will Smith Apologizes For His Stumble, The Academy Investigates And The World Condemns. But From Those In The Culture, The Fallen Star Receives Grace and Empathy

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Will Smith Slaps Chris Rock

Actor Will Smith has come out to publicly apologize to Chris Rock for slapping him over the joke he made about his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith. The moment has garnered reactions from the Academy Awards and prominent figures including the father of Venus & Serena Williams, whom Smith depicted in his Best Actor-winning role.  What’s telling […]

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Ja Rule Resurfaces With A Will Smith Slap Reaction After Fans Invoke Dave Chappelle’s Infamous Joke

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ja rule where's ja?
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The monoculture is dead — or at least dying — so culture-spanning moments that unite the whole world in awe, outrage, or hilarity are rare. Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars certainly qualifies; look at us, still discussing this thing two days later, even with our pandemic-shortened attention spans. And whenever there’s such a moment that demands our attention (and our takes), one question arises to loom over the proceedings, a question that demands an answer, no matter how solemn, silly, irreverent, or irrelevant.

“WHERE’S JA!?”

That’s right. Ever since the joke was first uttered by Dave Chappelle during his 2004 special For What It’s Worth, it has become inevitable that when a current event has the world’s attention, people want — nay, need — to know what rapper Ja Rule is thinking. The bit, centered around the absurdity of an MTV News segment that cut away from September 11 attack coverage to get Ja Rule’s take, has since become an ingrained meme on social media. So, when Will Smith stomped his way on stage and shocked the world, there was just one thing fans wanted to know.

Fortunately, we can all breathe easily again. Ja, who knows his role in all of this, was more than game to oblige our curiosity, joking on Twitter that “Slapping season is OFFICIALLY in session.” A day later, he followed up with a countdown to “All rappers wit the Will slap Rock bars.”

Thanks, Ja Rule. You’re not always there when we call, but you’re always on time.

Tiffany Haddish On Will Smith Slapping Chris Rock “That’s What Your Husband Is Supposed To Do, Right? Protect you”

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Tiffany Haddish

Tiffany Haddish defended Will Smith after the ‘King Richard’ Oscar winner slapped Chris Rock on stage during the 94th academy awards.  Smith who took to the stage to defend his wife after Rock who was presenting the Oscar for best documentary feature made a comedic joke about her shaved bald head. Pinket who announced shaving her head because she suffered from alopecia (which was the cause of her hair loss) in December didn’t think the joke was so funny,  Haddish who has worked alongside Smith in ‘Girls Trip’ was spotted talking to Pinkett Smith during a commercial break at the Oscars following the incident. The actor told People that “Pinkett Smith appreciated her husband’s actions. Haddish said that Smith is doing “fine.”  Here’s what she had to say about the slap. 

Tiffany Haddish Says Will Smith Slapping Chri Rock “ That’s What Your Husband Is Supposed To Do, Right? Protect you”

Tiffany Haddish defended Will Smith after the ‘King Richard’ Oscar winner slapped Chris Rock on stage during the 94th academy awards.  Smith who took to the stage to defend his wife after Rock who was presenting the Oscar for best documentary feature made a comedic joke about her shaved bald head. Pinket who announced shaving her head because she suffered from alopecia (which was the cause of her hair loss) in December didn’t think the joke was so funny,  Haddish who has worked alongside Smith in ‘Girls Trip’ was spotted talking to Pinkett Smith during a commercial break at the Oscars following the incident. The actor told People that “Pinkett Smith appreciated her husband’s actions. Haddish said that Smith is doing “fine.”  Here’s what she had to say about the slap. 

“When I saw a Black man stand up for his wife. That meant so much to me,” Haddish told People magazine (via EW) after the Oscars. “As a woman, who has been unprotected, for someone to say like, ‘Keep my wife’s name out your mouth, leave my wife alone,’ that’s what your husband is supposed to do, right? Protect you. And that meant the world to me. And maybe the world might not like how it went down, but for me, it was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen because it made me believe that there are still men out there that love and care about their women, their wives.” And that’s their friend,” Haddish added of Rock. “As a friend, why would you do that? He didn’t even run the joke by her, but she was hurt, though. If she wouldn’t have been hurt, he probably wouldn’t have said anything. But you could see he was clearly … And they exploited it. They exploited her, so … He protected his wife. What do you’ll think about the slap? Was Will right in doing so? Hit us up in the comments we’d love to see what you have to say.

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[WATCH] Steve Harvey Thinks Will Smith Slapped Chris Rock Because “He Know He Can’t Do Nothing”

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Many people have weighed in on the infamous slap Will Smith laid on comedian Chris Rock shortly before accepting his Oscar for making a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith. There are a plethora people who supported Smith in the move to protect the honor of his wife, but fellow comedian/talk show host Steve Harvey says that Will Smith should’ve and could’ve handled it another way.

Harvey called the slap by Smith a “Hollywood move”because being that it was on national TV, it was highly unlikely that Chris Rock was going to retaliate. Harvey believes that if the Academy Awards Best Actor would’ve handled it like a man backstage in the press room, the end result may have been completely different.

Listen to Harvey’s POV below.

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Questlove Was ‘Rattled’ While Giving His Oscars Speech After The Will Smith Slap, He Confirms

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Questlove The Roots 94th Annual Academy Awards Oscars 2022
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At this year’s Academy Awards, Questlove got the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, for Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised). That was the biggest moment of his night, but the main takeaway of the event more broadly happened immediately before, when Chris Rock, who was on stage to present the documentary award, got slapped by Will Smith. Now, it seems Questlove confirmed that while giving his acceptance speech, he was (understandably) thrown off by what happened just moments earlier.

Yesterday, a Twitter user wrote, “I think the whole Will Smith assault rattled @questlove who had to give a speech like 90 seconds later. He couldn’t even remember the names of his co-winners. #Oscars.” Questlove responded with just an emoji of a fax machine. Emojipedia notes the fax machine emoji is “sometimes used in emoji form as an alternative to the words ‘facts,’ due to the similarity of pronunciation.” So, based on Questlove’s usage of it, it looks like he’s confirming he was indeed rattled while giving his speech.

Meanwhile, before sending that tweet, Questlove talked about the win on The Tonight Show, with neither him nor Jimmy Fallon directly mentioning Smith or Rock. Questlove told Fallon he was meditating during the commercial break before the award was presented. He also noted, “I realized that that was a real moment, like, maybe three seconds before I spoke words. In my mind, they’re just doing a sketch or whatever and I’m just like, ‘OK Ahmir, remember to thank your mom, your dad, thank Tariq [Trotter, aka Black Thought of The Roots]…’ So I was not present at all. I was just in a blank slate.”

Watch Questlove on The Tonight Show below.

Oscars Officials Consider Having Will Smith Leave the Ceremony Following the Viral Slap of Chris Rock

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will smith slapping chris rock

The Oscars were packed with many notable moments. Will Smith slapping Chris Rock on TV dominated every headline on Monday. In the third hour of the show, Chris Rock appeared to deliver an award for Best Documentary. Before running through the nominees, Rock got a few jokes off, and his final one was targeted toward Jada Pinkett Smith, highlighting her hair and asking was it for a sequel to G.I. Jane. The moment would lead to a slap from Smith to Rock. A new report from PEOPLE stated The Academy considered removing Will Smith from the ceremony.

“Having Will removed was definitely discussed seriously,” an industry source stated.

We are sure you know by now, but Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on the Oscars stage. Following the moment, Will Smith apologized to The Academy during his acceptance speech for his role as Richard Williams in King Richard. Following the viral moment, the Los Angeles Police Department issued a statement, revealing Rock will not press charges.

“LAPD investigative entities are aware of an incident between two individuals during the Academy Awards program,” the statement read. “The incident involved one individual slapping another. The individual involved has declined to file a police report.

“If the involved party desires a police report at a later date, LAPD will be available to complete an investigative report.”

Diddy was the first presenter to hit the stage following Will Smith slapping Chris Rock. Diddy stated they would fix the issue like a family at The Gold Party after the ceremony, he later revealed to Page Six that it was solved at the Vanity Fair event.

“That’s not a problem. That’s over. I can confirm that,” Diddy said. “It’s all love, they’re brothers.”

Page Six also notes Rock and Smith agreed to work out their issues after the ceremony.

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George Wallace Wants To Make Sure That Questlove’s Oscar Win Isn’t Overshadowed By The Will Smith Slapping Skirmish

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Ahmir Questlove Thompson 94th Annual Academy Awards Oscars 2022
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Chris Rock wasn’t the only casualty of Will Smith’s rage at Sunday night’s Oscars ceremony. Sure, it was Rock’s face that absorbed the power of Smith’s smack after the comedian made a joke about the King Richard star’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. But the confusion that ensued in the moments following the unexpected skirmish left many viewers trying to piece together what they had just seen, as the American broadcast cut the live feed in order to censor Smith’s language and some of what had happened. Had it all been a skit?

As viewers feverishly texted friends and checked Twitter to see what exactly they had missed, one person seemed to get lost in the shuffle: Questlove, the Philly-born musician who first rose to fame as the frontman for The Roots, and who has racked up credits as a songwriter, record producer, author, actor, film producer, and director (when he’s not heading up the house band for The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon).

It was Questlove, a.k.a. Ahmir Thompson, who ended up inching one step closer to an EGOT when he won the Oscar for Best Documentary for Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), an outstanding reminder of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, a celebration of Black music and culture, which was largely overshadowed by Woodstock, as the two events partly overlapped.

Fortunately, legendary comedian/actor George Wallace made sure to call out Questlove’s achievement, and assure Quest—who directed and executive produced the doc—that “We saw that sh*t, Quest!”

Questlove appreciated, and felt, the love.

Meanwhile, Smith has officially issued an apology to Rock for how things went down at last night’s ceremony, saying that he is “a work in progress.” Maybe an “I’m sorry” to Questlove will come next.