Jaden Is All Praise For Dad Will Smith On Twitter, Debate Erupts
By Rima Pundir on March 28, 2022 at 8:15 AM EDT
Jaden Smith is not usually the one to weigh in on the goings-on around him, but after his dad, Will Smith "smacked the sh** out" of Chris Rock, he's finally speaking up. He stands staunchly with his dad because after all, it was his mother, Jada Pinkett-Smith that was being dissed, on an international stage, by Chris Rock.
She had come clean about her alopecia last year, choosing to share her vulnerability with the world and her fans, and getting plenty of support from everyone.
The Slap That Shook The World
Chris Rock came on to present the Oscar for documentary feature and cracked a few jokes. He pointed at Jada, saying, "Jada, I love you. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it!"
While the celebrity audience nervously tittered, Rock carried on, calling it a "nice joke" but within a few seconds, the scene had changed. As Smith strode on stage, the audience cheered, expecting some bonhomie and even Rock stood there with a friendly smile on his face.
Everyone was taken aback when Will Smith took a swing at Rock, and initially, it seemed like a scripted joke.
In an uncensored version posted on Twitter, Rock then said, “Oh wow... Will Smith just smacked the shit out of me” to which Smith, now back in his seat, mouthed, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth!”
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"Wow, dude, it was a G.I. Jane joke," said Rock, and Smith yelled out again, "Keep my wife's name out your f***ing mouth!"
"I'm going to, okay?" Rock replied, going on to say, "That was the ... greatest night in the history of television" and finally, gathered his wits to present the award.
Celebs And Social Media Are Divided Over Incident
Many feel that Chris Rock was being disrespectful towards Jada-Pinkett Smith, who had come clean about her alopecia last year.
At the time, she had made a video, captioning it as, " Mama’s gonna have to take it down to the scalp so nobody thinks she got brain surgery or something😜 Me and this alopecia are going to be friends … period!😆"
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Sophia Bush was quick to denounce them both, saying, "Violence isn’t ok. Assault is never the answer. Also? This is the 2nd time that Chris has made fun of Jada on the #Oscars stage, & tonight he went after her alopecia. Punching down at someone’s auto-immune disease is wrong. Doing so on purpose is cruel. They both need a breather."
There were others who believed that the joke was indeed in bad taste but violence was definitely not the option.
The Twitter handle of Academy also tweeted:
The Academy does not condone violence of any form.
Tonight we are delighted to celebrate our 94th Academy Awards winners, who deserve this moment of recognition from their peers and movie lovers around the world.
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 28, 2022
Later, Will Smith won Best Actor for his performance as Venus and Serena Williams' father Richard Williams in "King Richard" and said his meal culpa.
With tears rolling down his face, Smith said, "I want to apologize to the Academy. I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees. Art imitates life: I look like the crazy father. Just like they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things."
He also said, "Being able to love and care for my mother and my family, my wife. Thank you for this honor. Thank you for this moment. I hope the Academy invites me back."
Jaden Smith Takes His Dad's Side
A few hours after the whole debacle, Jaden Smith took to Twitter to post, "And That’s How We Do It."
While he could be mentioning his dad's Oscar win, Twitterati have taken it in context of the slap and a debate ensured.
Watching your dad have an emotionally violent meltdown over a mild joke on live tv and in front of every important person in Hollywood isn’t as badass as you seem to think it is. https://t.co/eFBbLiKNue
— Sophia ‘Dimensional Merger’ Narwitz (@SophNar0747) March 28, 2022
Jaden, your father is a 53 year-old grown adult man. Dude should already have his shit together, by now.
I would actually be embarrassed to see my father act like this, in public. Especially over a vanilla joke, from a professional comedian.. https://t.co/mMcsOvCfNE
— BlackSageD Sony & Steam Censors Japanese Games! (@Black_D_Gamer1) March 28, 2022
But there were plenty of fans on his side as well, writing.
I’m sorry this is beautiful. He just saw his father protect his momma. Love it. https://t.co/IGTYDNG3gK
— DW. (@lacienagabvdeZ) March 28, 2022
Absolutely. I'm sorry that your mom was treated in such a classless manner. Regardless of the backlash, your father did what any protector would have done. I'm anti- violent, however, sometimes a strong message has to be sent. Namaste.
— Diedre Bibbs🌹🇺🇲🇺🇦 (@Diedre09) March 28, 2022