According to The Hollywood Reporter, 15.36 million viewers watched this year’s Academy Awards. However, the number of people who heard about and viewed the slap laid upon Chris Rock by Will Smith more than likely surpasses that, thanks to social media reshares and news clips. The reaction towards “slap gate” has been pretty divided. You have the percentage of the population who feel that Will Smith was justified in his actions toward Chris Rock at the 94th Academy Awards on Sunday, March 27, 2022. On the other hand, some feel that Will Smith should have exhibited better behavior, as his choice was unbecoming. Many celebrities who couldn’t help but chime in were included in the chatter. Interestingly enough, quite a few of them feel as though the actor should have had that same energy for R&B singer August Alsina.
Who could forget the 2020 debacle that the Smith family faced? During the pandemic, social media was thoroughly entertained at the expense of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith when it was by August Alsina that he had an extramarital affair or “entanglement” with the actress. Things would then heighten once Jada Pinkett Smith brought herself to the table for a Red Table Talk with her husband to openly discuss the drama. The conversation was undoubtedly an awkward exchange for the couple and, at times, emotional. But in comparison, certain prominent figures are wondering why the energy that Will Smith gave to Chris Rock was not kept for or given to August Alsina at any point.
Controversial social media personality Kevin Samuels offered this very take to his social media as he begged the question. “Did you have that same smoke for August Alsina?” he asked. According to Kevin Samuels, Will Smith’s actions seemed to be “more than a GI Jane joke,” referring to Chris Rock’s jab on Sunday night. Furthermore, Samuels refers to Will Smith’s violent expression as “Emasculated entanglement syndrome.”
Echoing that sentiment following the broadcast was Wack 100. His conversation in a Clubhouse Chatroom was captured and shared across social media. Wack could be heard asking in the audio why Will Smith did not “fight” who his wife “willingly” stepped out on him with. Although that would be impossible, wack 100 might have entirely missed the segment where Will Smith warned Chris Rock for uttering his wife’s name out of his mouth. Continuing, Wack suggested that Will Smith should have ‘handled’ Jada for being disloyal.
Another that offered his opinion in support of Chris Rock was fellow comedian Steve Harvey. In a clip shared by Hollywood Unlocked, the comedian suggests that Smith should have addressed Chris Rock backstage in the press room. But Harvey also states that the outcome would have been different had that been the case. According to Steve Harvey, Will Smith did a “Hollywood” move, knowing that Chris Rock both would not and could not have reacted at that moment. “Will been in Hollywood long enough,” the Family Feud host shared. “So now to turn your back and walk off… you know in real life, that ain’t the way this gon’ go.” Steve Harvey highlighted that Chris Rock is from New Jersey and would not have taken that slap lightly had it been a different scenario. He also stated that Will Smith “overreacted” from the joke and further criticized his acceptance speech, claiming that it was “raggedy.”
Countless memes arose on Twitter from users who compared Will Smith’s reaction to Chris Rock’s joke to that of the news of his wife’s extramarital affair with the “No Love” singer. One, in particular, shows a picture of Stevie Wonder smiling, depicting Smith’s reaction to August Alsina versus a photo of OJ Simpson for his Oscars behavior. One social media user wondered why the actor never pressed August Alsina when he had “more than HER NAME in his mouth.” Another wrote, “So Will Smith punched Chris Rock over a joke he made about Jada… The same lady who admitted that admitted to still be in love with Tupac anddddd had an “entanglement with August Alsina. Mmmmm okay.” Judging from how long the Internet held its grip on the couple when the entanglement news broke, it’s safe to say that this won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.
