Will Smith’s Public Violence Triggered The Resurfacing Of Chris Rock’s 2020 Interview Regarding His Sexual And Racial Abuse Trauma
Being famous is not all about rainbows and unicorns. Yes, the whole world might know them, they might earn a crazy amount of money – but it all costs them their privacy. Ordinary folks constantly judge their looks, are too obsessed with their private life and frankly treat them like objects.
They’re also not protected from developing an entitlement syndrome. Well-known folks often get struck by this superiority complex that allows them to say and do questionable things and not face any consequences due to their power. For that reason, even with all the potential luxuries, their world is devilishly toxic and very damaging.
Look back on the recent Chris Rock incident, for instance. What seemed like an innocent joke earned him a smack in front of 2,500 notable attendees. Smith’s angry outburst split the audience into two camps, making them wonder whether the actor’s violent actions are justifiable.
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The 94th Academy Awards ceremony startled folks with its unexpected feud
Image credits: REUTERS
Bored Panda has already covered this – however, for those who are not yet familiar with this unpleasant incident, the event took place on March 27th, during a live broadcast of the 94th Academy Awards ceremony. Rock, who was hosting, made a joke regarding Jada Smith’s shaved head by referencing the movie G.I. Jane, linking her appearance to Demi Moore’s. While the camera showed that Will found the comedian’s remark to be amusing, he later made his way towards Chris and slapped him across the face.
Will Smith hit Chris Rock after comedian made a joke regarding Jada Smith’s shaved head
Image credits: TheAcademy
Naturally, the organization issued a statement saying how they don’t condone any sort of violence. It is known that the actor was asked to leave the event – however, he refused. Still, the board of governors revealed that they are indeed taking actions: “we have officially started a formal review around the incident and will explore further action and consequences in accordance with our bylaws, standards of conduct and California law.”
The actor later issued an apology on his Instagram page stating that his behavior was “inexcusable”
Image credits: willsmith
A few days after the shocking and unforeseen altercation, Will Smith finally broke his silence by addressing it on his Instagram page. The actor revealed that his actions were, in fact, unacceptable and inexcusable. Smith blamed the outburst on his excessive emotionality as the joke was made about his beloved wife’s medical condition (though Chris Rock says that he knew nothing about Jada’s alopecia). The man then apologized to Chris while admitting that he was wrong and out of line.
Image credits: willsmith
The event triggered the resurfacing of Chris Rock’s interview regarding his sexual and racial assault trauma
Image credits: The Howard Stern Show
The public violence at the Oscars later provoked the resurfacing of Chris Rock’s interview for The Howard Stern Show that took place in 2020. The man revealed his struggles with past traumas due to sexual and racial harassment he faced in his childhood. Rock also shared a story about how he accidentally stumbled upon one of the school bullies during the making of “Top Five”.
Image credits: The Howard Stern Show
The man told Howard Stern that he suffers from a big ego but very low self-esteem. If someone has anything to say about his work, the comedian could get very defensive, however – most of the time, he feels like he’s not worthy of anything. Stern supported the comedian with his words by saying that he’s no different and that he believes that it all comes from the atmosphere that one had back at home.
Image credits: The Howard Stern Show
Rock confirmed the words of the radio personality and said that it definitely comes from the relationship that one has with his parents. Moreover, the comedian established a connection between him and Stern, as he went to a white school, whereas Howard went to a black one – so they share a somewhat similar experience. Chris then talked about how he believes that he has dealt with that agonizing trauma, since he writes jokes about it – yet, it’s absolutely not true.
Image credits: The Howard Stern Show
Chris revealed the heartbreaking truth that he was frequently assaulted, sometimes even sexually. Stern then asked whether he remembers the names of those who mistreated him back at school, to which the comedian replied with a story. In 2014, Rock was directing and simultaneously starring in a movie called “Top Five”. One day during filming, he realized that one of his bullies was actually working as security on set.
Image credits: The Howard Stern Show
However, the man didn’t let his past traumas surface, even though it was the guy who had the audacity to turn him upside down and shake the money out of his pockets. Rock revealed that the universe did everything for him and it’s a shame because they could’ve been friends instead. The old bully had to endure seeing Chris at his best, directing the movie and simply enjoying life.
Image credits: The Howard Stern Show
Having such a public life is never easy. Things can go south at any moment and the next thing you know – the whole world has turned against you. Similarly, you can never be sure what the person is going through, so maybe it’s a good idea to cut them some slack?
You can watch the interview here:
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I don’t know enough about Chris Rock to feel one or the other about him, and the joke was tacky. But Smith is absolute piece of sh*t for doing what he did. I do know that Rock was bullied as a kid, and that never, NEVER leaves you. Just watching it has me swimming in anxiety, reliving all my own childhood shame and humiliation. When Smith is assaulted by a man twice his directly in front of thousands of people and in front millions on television and the internet, he can talk about being a “work in progress.” In the meantime he’s just a pile of sh*t. (Edited to add) Rock didn’t compare her to a comical bald character, but G.I. Jane. That’s a movie about a fearless, badass woman.
Will slapping Chris was wrong AND Chris making fun of Jada's alopecia which is an autoimmune disease is also wrong.
CR commented on Jada's hairstyle, not her alopecia. And he compared her to the cool GI Jane. And WS laughed his aß off to start with; he tried to make up for it in front of his wife. If instead of physical attack he asked CR to apologise he'd be the bigger man. Now he's just a violent sod in my eyes.
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I'm sure we would like to compare his story with the stories of Asians, people with hair loss, and other groups he thinks are fair game about the abuse they have suffered from nasty people who thought jokes like his were a good excuse to beat them up, discriminate against them, and hurt in other ways. Screw Will Smith, too, they both set back the image of black men everywhere. I have met many people who thought it was fine for cops to shoot African-Americans for no good reason because of "how violent they are". It sucks to ask a group to be more of a model than the dominant group, but it sure as hell doesn't help to provide examples for the bigots to point at.
Chris Rock, Will Smith, I don't know these men, but do know that I wanted to post this somewhere, and figured BP was a good start. Apology by Smith should be given to US. The viewers who witnessed the assault on our t.v.'s Sunday night. His 'fans' the ticket buyers who've made Smith millions of dollars, going to see his movies. His apologies to everyone else sounded forced. Maybe he should sit back and think where he'd be if he had no audience. He'd be back in Philly, or wherever. IMO the Oscars became the Will Smith Show. His blatant disregard of EVERYONE but himself was disgusting to see. Oscar People put out an apology 'to the viewers', a bit late... but at least it was an apology. Something Smith should strongly consider doing asap.
To be honest, I don't think he owes any of us an apology. He didn't offend us. He didn't embarrass us. He didn't hit us. Yes of course, Chris was out of line. I kind of do believe he knew about Jada and her alopecia. I mean they were friends. At the same time, Will Smith should have kept his hands to himself. He had no right to put a finger on that man. I don't care who you are, or how much power you have. Now Chris is having to relive the bullying at it's worst. Most importantly we don't deserve an apology because we were not humiliated on public television, in front of millions of people!!!! Chris Rock was!! Keep your head up Chris! I absolutely hate the fact that so many comedians are so sad. They're such wonderful people and they give us so much pleasure. Yet the sad reality is, their talent was born out of a lot of trauma, hurt, shame and not feeling loved enough. That my friends is the epitome of sadness.
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By all means, applaud the misogynist assshole who gives no shite about others' well-being because he was bullied as a kid. Half the World population come with baggage, does that excuse being a D**k towards the weaker? This is a horrible excuse, what a narcissist douchebag
I honestly can't say I support either Chris or Will right now. Both made mistakes. There is no "good guy/bad guy" here.
Disagree, there's a huge difference between saying a joke that was in bad taste and assault.
Load More Replies... Should he have slapped him? No. Should Chris have made that horrible, discriminatory joke? No. Seeing as Chris went through some bullying, I find he has even less of an excuse for the lack of sensitivity. Simultaneously if Will had just told him to shut up, instead of slapping him, I think the public would be attacking Chris about now.
As someone with a similar condition I understand why Will Smith did that. He may have been wrong to do that in front of the public, but that man made a joke about his wife. What if a dude made fun of your partner's disability or issues, you'd slap the s*** out of them too. And even if he laughed at the start it might of been because he didn't hear properly, or maybe he did hear it and laughed. Still doesn't make Chris rock any better. If he did mean it as a compliment he should've apologized for it and explained why. Yeah, Will Smith is wrong for hitting him but from any other standpoint, ESPECIALLY if he wasn't a celebrity y'all would not have cared AND would've supported him.
I don’t know enough about any of the two or the situation to form a real opinion, but the way I read the apology it sounds sincere and not really like he’s trying to make excuses for his behavior. I find it a little frustrating to see how unforgiving the world (or the internet) is - what would be required of Will Smith for people to „forgive“ his outburst? I honestly can’t think of any words, action or gesture that would dial back the public outrage. I’m not saying anything about that situation was acceptable, but I reckon anything he does and says will be met with „oh, that hypocrite, he’s just doing X to save face, so insincere“.
If he was a big a ass back then as he is now I can see why he was bullied. Rock's sexism was on display for everyone
Yeah totally normal to just hit him. I always immediately hit ppl who joke that my husband is bald.
Load More Replies... We we so impressed as we watched Mr. Rock's reaction and how he handled it. We done said that is a real man, a gentleman, an intelligent adult. Not a bullying child who chose to not control himself. He's always been entertaining, now he's a hero.
I don't know enough about that side of him to make a judgement. Is Rock known for that? It wouldn't change my opinion on Smith in this case, but it would change it on Rock's. So far I've been pretty disappointed in some celeb women who commented on this as though 'well he's just protecting his woman'.... very disappointed with that viewpoint as an excuse, but i'm especially disappointed with comments from Jameela Jamil who defended Smith by saying that it was basically fine because Will Smith is bigger than Rock and the fact he *only* slapped him and didn't put him on his a**e not only made it fine, but also quite heroic. I'm sure all those violent men who are bigger than the person they beat and bully take comfort in all those times they've stepped up to the plate and only assaulted someone, not laid them out like they could have done.
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Hollywood is just trash anymore. There's hardly any original writing anymore it's all crappy remakes. Everything that happened at the awards is for ratings and if you cannot see that then you need to take off those rose colored glasses and think about it. The movie theaters aren't doing well since Covid and no one wants to spend the money to go when they can stream it at home for less money.
Childhood trauma is no excuse. This man has been after the Smiths, following them and saying things about them for years. If he was truly hurt, he would try to not hurt others. He had a choice in NOT reading that "joke", but he didn't. FWIW, the writer should be outed, censured, and fired.
There's a lot of violence in movies for some thing that doesn't condone it...
I remember in the 90s when Washington was locking people up and telling poor Black people to get a job, that's when Chris Rock did his routine calling them the N word. But nobody in the media remembers that.
Horrific. I get so mad at parents, who let their kid get bullied in school and then respond so dumb and slow. Oooh I could have taken him to another school? Ooooh I didn't know that. A kid got bullied in my son's school and the parents of the bully didn't care. His dad sued em and won. Another kid bullied kids. Parents went to school and he had to be removed and go to a special school, where he shut up or he would get bullied by even bigger bullies.
Why do ppl treat slaps as if they're getting stabbed with a knife?
Bc it's taking away your autonomy especially to the face it's violent it's abusive and it's humiliating. Chris wasn't hitting smith. Smith needed to defend himself w words not hands. If he would've went on SM that night people would be calling Chris out for bullying instead now will made it all about himself no mention of his wife. He was defending his insecurity not her illness.
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Yea because if someone makes a joke you don't like, go on and smack them in their face. Is that what normal behavior is? Is that how you act around other people? You think its okay for other people to become violent towards you when you say something they don't like?
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I don’t know enough about Chris Rock to feel one or the other about him, and the joke was tacky. But Smith is absolute piece of sh*t for doing what he did. I do know that Rock was bullied as a kid, and that never, NEVER leaves you. Just watching it has me swimming in anxiety, reliving all my own childhood shame and humiliation. When Smith is assaulted by a man twice his directly in front of thousands of people and in front millions on television and the internet, he can talk about being a “work in progress.” In the meantime he’s just a pile of sh*t. (Edited to add) Rock didn’t compare her to a comical bald character, but G.I. Jane. That’s a movie about a fearless, badass woman.
Will slapping Chris was wrong AND Chris making fun of Jada's alopecia which is an autoimmune disease is also wrong.
CR commented on Jada's hairstyle, not her alopecia. And he compared her to the cool GI Jane. And WS laughed his aß off to start with; he tried to make up for it in front of his wife. If instead of physical attack he asked CR to apologise he'd be the bigger man. Now he's just a violent sod in my eyes.
Load More Replies... I'm sure we would like to compare his story with the stories of Asians, people with hair loss, and other groups he thinks are fair game about the abuse they have suffered from nasty people who thought jokes like his were a good excuse to beat them up, discriminate against them, and hurt in other ways. Screw Will Smith, too, they both set back the image of black men everywhere. I have met many people who thought it was fine for cops to shoot African-Americans for no good reason because of "how violent they are". It sucks to ask a group to be more of a model than the dominant group, but it sure as hell doesn't help to provide examples for the bigots to point at.
Chris Rock, Will Smith, I don't know these men, but do know that I wanted to post this somewhere, and figured BP was a good start. Apology by Smith should be given to US. The viewers who witnessed the assault on our t.v.'s Sunday night. His 'fans' the ticket buyers who've made Smith millions of dollars, going to see his movies. His apologies to everyone else sounded forced. Maybe he should sit back and think where he'd be if he had no audience. He'd be back in Philly, or wherever. IMO the Oscars became the Will Smith Show. His blatant disregard of EVERYONE but himself was disgusting to see. Oscar People put out an apology 'to the viewers', a bit late... but at least it was an apology. Something Smith should strongly consider doing asap.
To be honest, I don't think he owes any of us an apology. He didn't offend us. He didn't embarrass us. He didn't hit us. Yes of course, Chris was out of line. I kind of do believe he knew about Jada and her alopecia. I mean they were friends. At the same time, Will Smith should have kept his hands to himself. He had no right to put a finger on that man. I don't care who you are, or how much power you have. Now Chris is having to relive the bullying at it's worst. Most importantly we don't deserve an apology because we were not humiliated on public television, in front of millions of people!!!! Chris Rock was!! Keep your head up Chris! I absolutely hate the fact that so many comedians are so sad. They're such wonderful people and they give us so much pleasure. Yet the sad reality is, their talent was born out of a lot of trauma, hurt, shame and not feeling loved enough. That my friends is the epitome of sadness.
Load More Replies... By all means, applaud the misogynist assshole who gives no shite about others' well-being because he was bullied as a kid. Half the World population come with baggage, does that excuse being a D**k towards the weaker? This is a horrible excuse, what a narcissist douchebag
I honestly can't say I support either Chris or Will right now. Both made mistakes. There is no "good guy/bad guy" here.
Disagree, there's a huge difference between saying a joke that was in bad taste and assault.
Load More Replies... Should he have slapped him? No. Should Chris have made that horrible, discriminatory joke? No. Seeing as Chris went through some bullying, I find he has even less of an excuse for the lack of sensitivity. Simultaneously if Will had just told him to shut up, instead of slapping him, I think the public would be attacking Chris about now.
As someone with a similar condition I understand why Will Smith did that. He may have been wrong to do that in front of the public, but that man made a joke about his wife. What if a dude made fun of your partner's disability or issues, you'd slap the s*** out of them too. And even if he laughed at the start it might of been because he didn't hear properly, or maybe he did hear it and laughed. Still doesn't make Chris rock any better. If he did mean it as a compliment he should've apologized for it and explained why. Yeah, Will Smith is wrong for hitting him but from any other standpoint, ESPECIALLY if he wasn't a celebrity y'all would not have cared AND would've supported him.
I don’t know enough about any of the two or the situation to form a real opinion, but the way I read the apology it sounds sincere and not really like he’s trying to make excuses for his behavior. I find it a little frustrating to see how unforgiving the world (or the internet) is - what would be required of Will Smith for people to „forgive“ his outburst? I honestly can’t think of any words, action or gesture that would dial back the public outrage. I’m not saying anything about that situation was acceptable, but I reckon anything he does and says will be met with „oh, that hypocrite, he’s just doing X to save face, so insincere“.
If he was a big a ass back then as he is now I can see why he was bullied. Rock's sexism was on display for everyone
Yeah totally normal to just hit him. I always immediately hit ppl who joke that my husband is bald.
Load More Replies... We we so impressed as we watched Mr. Rock's reaction and how he handled it. We done said that is a real man, a gentleman, an intelligent adult. Not a bullying child who chose to not control himself. He's always been entertaining, now he's a hero.
I don't know enough about that side of him to make a judgement. Is Rock known for that? It wouldn't change my opinion on Smith in this case, but it would change it on Rock's. So far I've been pretty disappointed in some celeb women who commented on this as though 'well he's just protecting his woman'.... very disappointed with that viewpoint as an excuse, but i'm especially disappointed with comments from Jameela Jamil who defended Smith by saying that it was basically fine because Will Smith is bigger than Rock and the fact he *only* slapped him and didn't put him on his a**e not only made it fine, but also quite heroic. I'm sure all those violent men who are bigger than the person they beat and bully take comfort in all those times they've stepped up to the plate and only assaulted someone, not laid them out like they could have done.
Load More Replies... Hollywood is just trash anymore. There's hardly any original writing anymore it's all crappy remakes. Everything that happened at the awards is for ratings and if you cannot see that then you need to take off those rose colored glasses and think about it. The movie theaters aren't doing well since Covid and no one wants to spend the money to go when they can stream it at home for less money.
Childhood trauma is no excuse. This man has been after the Smiths, following them and saying things about them for years. If he was truly hurt, he would try to not hurt others. He had a choice in NOT reading that "joke", but he didn't. FWIW, the writer should be outed, censured, and fired.
There's a lot of violence in movies for some thing that doesn't condone it...
I remember in the 90s when Washington was locking people up and telling poor Black people to get a job, that's when Chris Rock did his routine calling them the N word. But nobody in the media remembers that.
Horrific. I get so mad at parents, who let their kid get bullied in school and then respond so dumb and slow. Oooh I could have taken him to another school? Ooooh I didn't know that. A kid got bullied in my son's school and the parents of the bully didn't care. His dad sued em and won. Another kid bullied kids. Parents went to school and he had to be removed and go to a special school, where he shut up or he would get bullied by even bigger bullies.
Why do ppl treat slaps as if they're getting stabbed with a knife?
Bc it's taking away your autonomy especially to the face it's violent it's abusive and it's humiliating. Chris wasn't hitting smith. Smith needed to defend himself w words not hands. If he would've went on SM that night people would be calling Chris out for bullying instead now will made it all about himself no mention of his wife. He was defending his insecurity not her illness.
Load More Replies... Yea because if someone makes a joke you don't like, go on and smack them in their face. Is that what normal behavior is? Is that how you act around other people? You think its okay for other people to become violent towards you when you say something they don't like?
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