Nicki Minaj & 50 Cent Tweet Support For Will Smith After Slapping Chris Rock At Oscars
Hollywood is still reeling after the Oscars moment no one was expecting, and both celebrities, and pretty much anyone who can write online, are now sharing their opinions on which side was in the right.
If you somehow haven’t heard, Will Smith responded explosively to an insensitive joke by Best Documentary Feature presenter Chris Rock about Jada Pinkett-Smith’s shaved head, a result of the medical condition alopecia. Smith slapped the comedian in the face and yelled “Keep my wife’s name out your f––king mouth,” at him twice, shocking both Rock and the audience into silence.
Smith later won the Best Actor award for the biopic King Richard, and in his speech, he apologized to Rock and the Academy. He also said notably at the end of his emotional and sometimes-rambling speech, “art imitates life. I look like the crazy father. Love will make you do crazy things.”
Some have praised Smith for not taking Rock’s joke lying down after Pinkett-Smith clearly wasn’t entertained by it. The rapper Nicki Minaj decried Rock’s joke and was one who spoke out in support of Smith in several tweets on Monday. Minaj said she appreciated Smith’s response because “while y’all seeing the joke he’s seeing her pain.”
The husband gets a front row seat to his wife’s pain… he’s the 1 consoling her… drying her tears behind closed doors when those cameras go off. Social media has made ppl feel that these “husbands” won’t ever run into them in real life. (Continued again(last time)on next tweet)
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) March 28, 2022
You just got to witness in real time what happens in a man’s soul when he looks over to the woman he loves & sees her holding back tears from a “little joke” at her expense. This is what any & every real man feels in that instant. while y’all seeing the joke he’s seeing her pain
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) March 28, 2022
While a few other celebrities came to Smith’s defense, including 50 Cent, Tiffany Haddish and his own son Jaden Smith, who tweeted “And That’s How We Do It,” later that evening, most in Hollywood are tripping over themselves to condemn Smith’s actions the most. Actress Zoë Kravitz referred to the incident lightly in an Instagram caption which read, “here’s a picture of my dress at the award show where we are apparently assaulting people on stage now.”
In a now-deleted tweet, director Judd Apatow said Smith “could have killed” the comedian and dramatically added it was, “pure out of control rage and violence.”
— Mia Farrow (@MiaFarrow) March 28, 2022
Plenty of people in the stand-up comedy world also reacted strongly to seeing a comedian get slapped for a bad joke. Kathy Griffin warned people that “we all have to worry about who wants to be the next Will Smith in comedy clubs and theaters.” Other comedians, who are all rich and famous enough to afford tight security should they need it, including Rob Schneider, Whitney Cummings and Patton Oswalt all wrote similar tweets echoing concern for the safety of stand-ups to tell their prime penis jokes now.
Let me tell you something, it’s a very bad practice to walk up on stage and physically assault a Comedian.
Now we all have to worry about who wants to be the next Will Smith in comedy clubs and theaters.— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) March 28, 2022
Very nervous for my shows at the @TheIrvineImprov tomorrow and Tuesday. Anyone have a catcher’s mask I can borrow?
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) March 28, 2022
I mean, it’s amazing that twitter attacking comedians for making jokes here about last night don’t see that they’re doing the same shit Will did last night. When people take jokes literally, society is just over.
— Whitney Cummings (@WhitneyCummings) March 28, 2022
Smith has since released a public apology, saying in part, “My behavior at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable … 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.” The Academy condemned Smith’s actions and said they were conducting an independent investigation into the incident that will take several weeks to complete, and could potentially result in them revoking the actor’s award. On Friday, Smith resigned from the Acadamy.
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