No one would’ve expected Will Smith, out of all people, to slap Chris Rock on national television. The actor came out of his seat during Oscars after Rock cracked a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, and struck the comedian with an open palm slap. Rock managed to carry out the rest of his presenting duties, though he was evidently stunned that Will Smith slapped him on stage.
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Dame Dash recently caught up with PageSix where he explained that he was initially in disbelief that Smith got physical with Chris Rock. “I will tell you this — ten years ago, five years ago, one year ago, if I ever heard that Will Smith got up and smacked somebody I would not believe it,” he said. “It’s almost like when a superhero turns into a villain or when a wrestler goes from being a good guy to the bad guy.”
Dash explained that the public might view the incident as a “shift in Will Smith” following decades worth of upholding a family-friendly image. However, the flurry of memes and online commentary that has followed Will and Jada likely prompted the reaction, Dash said. “It is almost seen as the shift of Will Smith. It is like he’s sick of being a good guy I guess. Will is tired of being a punk and he exploded and Chris Rock got it,” Dash continued. “It’s also internalizing a lot of trauma that he didn’t recognize and he overreacted to other things that bothered him. So more than likely I could say he could use a little therapy because he lost control of his emotions.”
The Roc-A-Fella co-founder added that the outcome of the situation would’ve been completely different if he and Kanye were in Will Smith’s shoes, adding, I know if that was me and Kanye I would’ve walked out in cuffs and Kanye would’ve walked out in a straight jacket.”
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Dash added that he initially didn’t believe it was real, which seemed to be a common first reaction to the clip. Since there are police and heavy security detail at the ceremony, Dash expected that someone would’ve left in cuffs. Still, Dash didn’t condone Will Smith’s actions.
“Showcasing us as a culture fighting is not a good thing. I never been a fan of other cultures judging us and us being so happy for their approval,” he said. “There’s a lot of times I wanna smack a lot of motherf–kers. I never walked up on the stage and smack somebody and then got a standing ovation the next f–king second.”