Will Smith defends his Wife with a Wallop! ?

I would have done the same if I’d been Will - I love Will !

It seems he has apologised for hitting the other man, who deserved it in my opinion.

Making jokes about anyone's ill health is so appalling that I doubt that anyone capable of doing so would realise he was wrong unless he was slapped.

So staged ,anything for attention

It's all very well to say that Jada Pinkett Smith is capable of standing up for herself and doesn't need her husband to wade in and defend her. It's true that she seems to be an independent and capable woman.

But think of something that you really feel sensitive about, maybe something that has made you feel ashamed and depressed even though it's not your fault. Then imagine that someone onstage had cracked a joke about it, in front of a worldwide audience, and the cameras were on you to witness your reaction. Yes, you might have the strength and presence of mind to answer back but it's equally likely that you would just wish you were dead.

Under those circumstances, if my loved one was the target of the joke, I might lash out and give their tormentor a smack in the mouth. I am not saying that I would be right to do it, just that I might do it anyway. No-one condones violence. We all know that it isn't the way to go. But it's not hard to understand why Will Smith reacted like that, if he looked at his wife and saw that she was hurting.

As for the idea that it was all a put-up job for publicity.. Well, if it was, then it worked really well.

I did read that the particular joke was not in the rehearsal, who knows what the real truth is but what example is that setting when one of his own children apparently tweeted something to the effect of 'that's the way we do it".

Honestly I don't care. I never watch the Oscars or anything similar.

I have alopecia my husband says he would have more than slapped him in the same circumstances My husband is usually a very gentle quiet man

Instead of violence, he should have demanded the comedian retract the 'joke' immediately and be escorted off the premises. The whole proceedings should have been drawn to a halt while the thing was sorted. Many comedians believe they should be able to make jokes about ANY subject or person, and if people get offended, that's their problem. I know people who think just like this. I think it's always wrong to get a laugh at the expense of other people. But there's currently no law against it because of freedom of speech issues, unless the intention was to deliberately offend. Some are saying the whole incident was staged, which in itself seems a sick joke.

tickingbird

^shaming a woman for her looks^ !!

He was referencing the shaved head a la Demi Moore when she shaved her head to play GI Jane. She looked beautiful and so does Jada Pinkett Smith, in fact JPS is stunning, shaved head or not.

Does Jada - or any woman - need their beauty or otherwise commented upon? Is she only beautiful because someone says she is? I thought society had moved past judging women on their looks.

It's time all these award shows ending all they are is a chance for celebrities to pant themselves on the back and make sickening remarks on stage

LullyDully

Such a hurtful, cheap joke which hit a raw nerve. But no need to hit the man, some well worded sarcasm would have been classier.

Don’t think he has the wit for that.

We’ve all been subjected to reporting of this incident for over 24 hours now and personally I’m utterly bored with Will Smith hijacking the Oscars and making it all about him. If you watch the footage he was actually laughing his head off along with everybody else until he spotted the look on his wife’s face and thought he’d better step up.
The comedian was also wrong, and not even funny but it’s all a fuss about nothing IMO.

Paddyanne54 Good for you, no witnesses is the way to go, bet that calmed your belly and you had a gorgeous glow all day, power to you and all women.

Apparently he only apologised to the organisers not to the chap he hit.

I think that Will Smith was justified in slapping Chris Rock .

He had no right to make cheap jokes about a distressing condition .

Comedians these days are so different to the ones we loved, genuine funny people joking about fun things, no swearing just funny. On the Will Smith slap, I think the 'comedian' was tacky to rely on laughs at someone else's expense and I felt for the wife, but to hit somebody as a result is inexcusable. I think it's time not to televise these award ceremonies. I get sick of crying celebs and now violent people. They should also withdraw Will Smith's Oscar but maybe his ego is so big he knew they wouldn't do that.

Can't condone anyone thumping someone. There are far more powerful ways of letting someone know they have offended,hurt or angered you.

Was it all for effect, did Will Smith know ahead of time that the slur would be made and give him an opportunity to take a slight shot at that idiot and make a drama out of an otherwise dreary show and brighten up the Oscars and give them headlines.

Henrysnan

It was disgraceful of Will Smith, as was his foul language after the slap.
If he can not resolve an issue without resorting to violence and disgusting language on live TV, he should be banned from all future Oscar's. How anyone is defending him is beyond me.

I agree with this. There were children present in the audience and some watching on TV. Not a good role model is he?
Hard to believe some people are condoning violence and thinking it's a good thing to give someone a slap if they upset you.

Quite right to defend his wife but his moan about what he has to put up with being famous was just pathetic. He doesn’t HAVE to be in the public eye and earn millions FFS

Re Smith ‘laughing at the joke at first’
As I’ve said upthread, I don’t think that he was completely aware of what was going on for much of the time.
He was acting erratically to say the least

It was disgraceful of Will Smith, as was his foul language after the slap.
If he can not resolve an issue without resorting to violence and disgusting language on live TV, he should be banned from all future Oscar's. How anyone is defending him is beyond me.

From the brief clip I saw, Smith was laughing at the joke, until he saw his wife's face, and she was clearly not happy at being targeted. Only then, did Smith go and execute a "stage slap".

I don't think there's anything to choose between the two men. Each as bad as the other.

I'm very proud of Will Smith taking this stand for his wife. I'm hoping that now other comedians will stop humiliating disabled people and those with medical conditions.
He deserved it and now he's saying he didn't know it was alopecia but lots of his 'jokes' have been about Will and Jada so I think he's lying. He's not very funny anyway and I hope he gets cancelled everywhere

It's all very well saying Jada is beautiful and looks beautiful with or without hair. The distress she will have felt with her hair falling out shouldn't be underestimated.