Actor and comedian David Spade this week weighed in on Will Smith infamously slapping fellow “SNL” alum and superstar comedian Chris Rock across the face over a mild joke about Smith’s wife at the 94th annual Academy Awards show.
Spade, a longtime friend of Rock’s, seemed to mock the idea that Smith would get so riled up over such a mild joke from Rock.
“A GI Jane joke???” Spade posted to Twitter. The post blew up online, garnering nearly 147,000 likes.
During a segment at the Oscars, Rock spotted actress Jade Pinkett Smith in the audience and cracked a joke about how Jada was going to be in the next “G.I. Jane” movie, referring to her bald head.
A GI Jane joke???
— David Spade (@DavidSpade) March 28, 2022
Spade then doubled-down on his criticism of Smith, battling a critic of his own. “Why would you phrase this as ‘a GI Jane joke?’ instead of ‘a joke about a woman with alopecia’?” the Spade critic said.
“Because comedians don’t have a medical chart for everyone in the audience,” the “Tommy Boy” actor shot back. This tweet, too, went viral, pulling in some 213,000 likes.
Because comedians don’t have a medical chart for everyone in the audience. https://t.co/XzZcy9ITqq
— David Spade (@DavidSpade) March 29, 2022
Spade also reportedly told Page Six at a Vanity Fair Oscars after-party “that Smith’s attack ‘set a dangerous precedent.'”
The Daily Wire highlighted that Jada, just a week before the Oscars, “stated in a TikTok video that she loved her bald head and didn’t care what people thought, asserting, ‘I don’t give two craps what people feel about this bald head of mine. Because guess what? I love it.'”
“Being a black woman and dealing with hair in Hollywood, especially in the era I came up in, having your hair look as European as possible was always the thing,” the actress continued. “That was really challenging, you know, because I liked my hair out wild and curly. But nobody wanted that, so I always had to do my hair in ways that didn’t feel natural to me because of trying to play the game.”
Smith finally apologized for his actions on Monday evening.
“Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive,” the actor wrote. “My behavior at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about my Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally.”
“I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris,” Smith added. “I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.”
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