This past Sunday, controversy arose after actor Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock during the 94th annual Oscar Awards. The questions surrounding what happened are whether or not the “scene” was staged. 

Smith stormed up to center stage and slapped Rock after he made a joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pickett Smith being bald. Jada has struggled with a disease called alopecia meaning that she cannot grow hair and has recently become very open about it. She was not happy when Rock made the joke and did not think it was very funny. 

“Jada, I love you. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see you,” Rock said. 

Jada did not like the joke, while her husband initially laughed at it. Some think since Will Smith laughed at the joke, the slap could have been staged since actors were involved. However, I don’t think it was staged, but I do think Smith slapped Rock since his wife was mad, not because he was mad. 

Why would Smith laugh right after the joke was made if he didn’t think it was funny? In video clips you can see Smith laughing with Jada in the background shaking her head and rolling her eyes. The clip then cuts to Smith walking up to Rock to slap him. I think in between the camera changing, Smith saw that his wife was mad and decided to do something so the anger would not be directed toward him. 

After Smith sat back down, he had some choice words he screamed at Rock. I’ll keep it PG since some profanity was used, but they were bad words to say the least. He immediately “acted” angry so that he could defend his wife. The key word there is “acted”. We have to remember we are dealing with actors here. Smith could have easily acted upset, so he did not look like a bad husband and so Jada would not get mad at him. He may not have looked like a bad husband, but he did embarrass himself on live television. Let’s just say, it might not have been his best moment on screen. 

Overall, Smith has apologized since the confrontation, but the debate of what really went on has taken the world by storm. It has been the talk of the town for the past week as the nation is divided on whose side to take. I believe that Smith took it out of hand and made himself look like a fool. If he really did have a problem with the joke he wouldn’t have laughed and could have handled it like a man and talked to Chris Rock after the show.