On March 27, Will Smith slapped Chris Rock across the face. Rock had made a joke about Jada Pinkett, Smith’s wife, poking fun at her baldness. Jada’s baldness is due to her alopecia, which Rock may not have known, but Smith got angry and walked up onto the stage to smack the silly out of him and told him to, “Keep my wife’s name out of your [REDACTED] mouth.” 

Fans were shocked to see this sudden outburst and very quickly, social media became flooded with memes. A meme format emerged of Rock and Smith facing each other after the blow was delivered. Smith apologized later that night, posting an apology on his Instagram, saying, “I was out of line and wrong… I am embarrassed, and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be.” 

However, this was not the first time Rock had cracked jokes about Pinkett. In 1997, on The Chris Rock Show, Rock commented about Pinkett, making fun of her attendance and leadership in the Million Woman March. 

In 2016, Pinkett and Smith boycotted the Oscars in a movement called #OscarsSoWhite, a movement made to acknowledge the lack of Black representation at the Oscars. Rock says, “Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna’s panties. I wasn’t invited.” This is a pretty disrespectful remark, but neither Pinkett nor Smith made any response to this comment. 

The Academy stated that “Violence or physical abuse in the workplace is never appropriate. The union condemns any such conduct- The incident involving Will Smith and Chris Rock at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable.” Since these statements, Smith has resigned, taking matters into his own hands. He has also been banned from the Oscars for 10 years. Surprisingly enough, as he was attempting to defend her, Pinkett is absolutely against Smith’s actions. 

On Us, according to an insider, “She’s not one of these women that needs protecting. He didn’t need to do what he did; she didn’t need protecting. She’s not a wallflower, she’s a strong woman, an opinionated woman, and she can fight her own battles. Still, she will stand by him.” Many people think that Pinkett is wrong for saying this because of the drama that happened with the infidelity known as “an entanglement” that the couple was going through this past year, going so far as to say that Pinkett is making a fool out of him, especially since she was reported to have been laughing after the slap. 

There is also speculation that Rock will talk about this incident on a show, as he made comments about not talking about the slap “until he gets paid.” This situation could have easily been avoided, and it’s a reminder that you should never speak about someone’s physical appearance because you never know what they could be going through. On the other hand, it is also a lesson to keep your hands to yourself, no matter what the situation is.