What was the real reason for Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars tonight?
It was one of the most shocking live moments of television of the past 20 years. So shocking, that initially people thought it was a joke, or not real.
Unfortunately it was very real.
Will seems to be dealing with some very real inner turmoil right now. And from an observer’s point of view it all stems back to his mariage to Jada Pinkett and her 3 year affair with August Alsina.
There is a lot of built up anger and rage within Will and it all spilled out at the Oscars, when Will decided to assault Chris Rock over a very lame and harmless joke. Clearly the joke was not the reason for the action but it must have been a tipping point for him. The last couple of years he has had to endure immense embarrassment and being the butt of jokes about Will and Jada’s open marriage. At the Oscar’s it became all too much for Will and he cracked.
It was meant to be the highest point of his acting career but now Will’s slap of Chris Rock will be all anyone talks about.
After the assault, Will returned to his seat and kept yelling at Chris Rock, “Keep my wife’s name out your muthaf***in mouth.”
I think if you read Will’s recent book a lot of things have happened recently that have led to this. He let go of his trainer since Ali, who kept Will being extremely disciplined because he wanted to push his son Jaden to be a better actor. And then After Jada’s affair Will started doing dangerous acts like jumping on a bungee out of a helicopter. Then towards the end of the book he starts taking hallucigenic drugs. Will looks like a man in crisis and this incident is the apex of that.
The question is, will Will Smith’s career ever recover from such an incident? He would have lost a lot of fans tonight. And will he actually get the help he needs. He says he wants to be a “vessel of love” but his actions tonight were anything but.
UPDATE: Will Smith has issued an apology to Chris Rock
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