The cohosts of ABC’s “The View” laid into best actor Will Smith on Monday, arguing that a Grammy Award-winning rapper should have used his words rather than resorting to violence if he didn’t like something comedian Chris Rock had to say.
The show began with a voiceover: “Shock waves after Oscar winner Will Smith goes way off script and assaults Chris Rock in one of the most stunning moments in awards show history. Should he have been escorted off the show for this? Did he deserve a standing ovation after his act of violence? And, will it overshadow all the other historic moments that should be celebrated from last night?”
.@sunny calls Will Smith slapping Chris Rock "a show of toxic masculinity."
"Our children would be suspended from school for doing something like that. Use your words — he's a Grammy award-winning rapper. Shouldn't he have been able to say something?" https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA pic.twitter.com/uXd1LKQ0Dg
— The View (@TheView) March 28, 2022
The drama began when comedian Chris Rock cracked a joke at Jada Pinkett-Smith’s expanse, alluding to her bald head and referencing “G.I. Jane 2.” The actress, who has struggled with alopecia, was clearly not thrilled with the comment. That’s when her husband, soon-to-be-crowned Best Actor Will Smith, got involved, slapping Rock across the face.
“So what was going on in your heads when you saw it?” Whoopi Goldberg asked.
“I was thinking, comedians are in danger everywhere,” Joy Behar replied. “That, you know, they want us to be edgy. They want us to go out there and say things other people are just thinking. They want us to take a risk, and then they get mad, and they get mad, but, you know, that’s what’s happening lately. People get mad.”
“Hitting somebody is a crime, right? It is a crime of assault on national TV,” cohost Ana Navarro added, saying that she had believed it to be fake at first.
“I think a lot of us thought this is going to be a comedy bit because this cannot possibly be happening on the live telecast of the Oscars that these two men, you know, at the top of their game with Will Smith about to get an Oscar for the first time in his life, that this is happening,” continued Navarro. “It just can’t be happening. It was men behaving badly. I think — look, and I don’t think it’s equivalent because Chris Rock is a comedian. It was a joke. It was a lame joke. It was a joke in very poor taste. So in context, Jada Smith has alopecia, and that’s why she shaved her head. She’s been very public about it. She’s been very vulnerable about it. That’s what the joke was about, and also in context, in 2016, Chris Rock had also in a monologue in the Oscars taken a shot at Jada. That being said, nothing, nothing, nada, cero, condones violence in this form. Nada.”
Sunny Hostin went on to note that Smith had apologized to the Academy and the other nominees later on, but that he had not apologized to Rock.
“And I thought Chris was the one that deserved an apology for taking the high road. He was slapped in front of millions of people, internationally, and he took the high road in his response. I think that Will was immature. I think he was childish, and I think he was violent,” she said, adding, “Our children would be suspended from school for doing something like that. Use your words. He’s a Grammy award-winning rapper. Shouldn’t he have been able to say something?”
Smith is facing a review from the Academy following the incident.