BY BILL JUNEAU
Did Chris Rock earn that slap on the face from Will Smith during the Academy Awards annual bash when he chided and needled Will's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, because of her bald head?
Jada Smith, 50 showed up at the Dolby theater for the 94th Oscar night wearing a bizarre deep green balloon-like dress with a five foot long caboose with enormous puffy ruffles. Add the flimsy towering heels, and she could barely move without carefully balancing the entire ensemble from side to side. More cultured folk have described her outfit as a "Jean Paul Gautier Spring 2022 Haute Couture gown adorned with rows and rows of ruffles, and sharp structured earrings, with sky-high Jimmy Choo stilettos."
There were lots of oohs and aahs over her dragon gown, but the absence of an attention grabbing hairdo drew only silence from critics. Jada, no doubt, is a bit sensitive over the alopecia disease which has robbed her of the chance to change her hair color and style at every Hollywood get-together, and forced her to make do with a bald pate, which, if the truth be known, did not look all that bad, as Hollywood extravaganzas go.
In his opening monologue, Oscar Host Rock delivered a prepared joke aimed at Jada comparing her to GI Jane in the 1997 movie in which Demi Moore had shaved her head. Rock joked that maybe a GI-Jane 2 starring Jada was in the works.
Rock and Jada and Will Smith had known each other since the 1990s. Jada and Rock had appeared in number of films together, and Will was in some too, and there were whispered rumors that Rock and Jada were a touch more than professional friends.
Will and Jada were married in the mid l990s and they have a son, Jaden, and a daughter, Willow, both celebrities in their own right. Jada is also step mother to Will's son Trey from a previous marriage.
Will has said publicly that he and Jada have an "open" marriage and each has had other sexual partners and that marriage for them "cannot be a prison." Jada has told of her affair with singer, August Alsina, and Will has admitted that he found interest in other beautiful women too, but in the end the Smiths have stayed together for more than two decades.
In his monologue, the smiley, bug-eyed comedian Rock, who claims not to have known of her medical condition, touched a sore spot for Mrs. Smith.
"Jada," Rock said, "I love ya. GI Jane 2--can't wait to see it." Will scowled at the remark and leaped from his seat in a front row and charged up the steps and onto the stage and let go with a right hand on his old friend's face.
He pivoted and returned to his seat and yelled with all cameras zooming in: "Keep my wife's name out of your f....ing mouth." He even yelled it twice to make sure that he was being heard. Rock retained a half-grin on his face and seemed to reply, "I will, indicating that he had no plan for a follow up joke.
Reportedly, Academy Award security officers asked Will to leave, but he apparently declined. Police officers were prepared to collar and arrest actor Smith if Rock would commit to signing a complaint, which he did not.
The awards ceremony continued and as fate would have it, the 53-year-old Smith was named best actor for his role as King Richard, the father of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams. He delivered a tearful acceptance speech and apologized to almost everyone around--except Rock--for his outburst. "I was wrong and out of line," he said, and there was lots and lots of stand-up applause.
So, was the behavior of husband, Will Smith, justified? Days before the Oscars, Jada had said that she doesn't "give 2 craps about what people think of her baldness..." True it was a joke, but a cruel one, and if Rock did not know about Jada's condition, he is probably the only one in Hollywood who did not, since she has been open about it. Smith must have known that socking Chris Rock on stage would light a publicity fire--but then maybe he figured that publicity is never all bad.
Lots of celebrities have weighed in. Dopey Jim Carrey and Howard Stern, the breast fanatic of radio fame, said that Smith had no right to slap. It was a joke and you cannot start punching in anger. Of course, if slapping became due course in the entertainment world, they would probably be in for a few knuckle sandwiches themselves.
Progressive Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, who is bald as a cue ball and like Jada, is a victim of alopecia, said initially that the whack on Rock was appropriate. But then, 24 hours later, she amended her tweet to say that Will was wrong, since it was a joke and Will should have bitten the bullet, as violence is never the answer. Trump-hating Rosie O'Donnell opined also that Will was in the wrong.
After the joke landed with a thud, Jada Smith seemed to roll her eyes and look apprehensive, as her husband charged the stage. The following day, Will contacted Chris Rock and apologized for his actions which he called "unacceptable and inexcusable." Rock has said that he is 'processing the events" and might have more to say later. Read that to mean he is trying to come up with some good jokes that won't earn him another smack in the face.
The Oscar committee, following the show, said that it would investigate Smith's explosive conduct, and that the veteran actor could be suspended or even expelled from the Academy. However, five days after the awards ceremony and with his gold statuette in hand, Smith let the word out that he was resigning his membership in the Academy.
In a written statement, he said that he had "betrayed the trust of the Academy." The list of those I have hurt is long, he said, and it includes Chris Rock, and his family; and global audiences and dear friends and loved ones and others. He said also that he would accept any further consequences for his conduct that the Academy deems appropriate.
As yet, no one has blamed "racism" as an underlying cause for Smith's meltdown. But then, who can predict the future.
xxx
No comments:
Post a Comment