It was the slap heard round the world. Will Smith, marching onto the Oscars stage to strike Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke in bad taste about his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith’s alopecia. Many refused to trust the evidence of their eyes, fervently hoping it was a stunt. If only.
There can be no defending or condoning Smith. You can’t explain away violence. However chivalrous his reasons for defending his wife, it doesn’t justify the smack that shocked the planet. It also seemed out of character, an attack that came without warning. Nothing could have prepared the audience, viewers or even Chris Rock for how quickly things would escalate. Listening to Smith apologise during his acceptance speech only raised more eyebrows, especially when he compared his need to protect his own to the man he played in his Oscar-winning role, Richard Williams, father of tennis stars Serena and Venus. Life imitating art? That doesn’t sit right with me.
Here stands a prominent black man who has spent decades honing his skills to reach this pinnacle of his career, only to have it overshadowed, brought low by slapping another prominent black man. It was disheartening to see, and frustrating to watch. It fed into the stereotype of black-on-black violence with the eyes of millions upon him. Racists and the anti-woke mob have had a field day drumming up false equivalence scenarios of ‘if this had been a white man slapping….’. Furthermore, in an industry where black talent struggles to be recognised, its excellence rarely celebrated and its labour unequally compensated, becoming the fifth Black man in the 92-year history of the Academy Awards to win the Best Actor in a leading role is huge. It feels like we have all been robbed of the unadulterated joy of fully enjoying this moment. It would be good to see Will Smith and Chris Rock get on the Red Table and talk this out with Jada Pinkett-Smith.
Yet at the centre of the backlash is Jada Pinkett-Smith herself, accused of leading her husband to behave out of character. It stinks. Others draw unfavourable conclusions about the state of their marriage. Still more point out that Will Smith was seen laughing along until Jada “rolled her eyes” and “looked stone-faced” (their words, not mine). Apparently, this prompted Will Smith to ‘prove his manhood’. To all this I have my own eyeroll. Nothing surprises me anymore. Blaming the woman has always been society’s go-to, ever since Eve was blamed for Adam eating the apple. It is utterly ridiculous, and deeply misogynistic. Jada did not slap Chris Rock. Nor did she instruct Will Smith to hit Chris Rock. But somehow she is to blame for a grown man’s actions? I am sick and tired of seeing black women disrespected and verbally violated in public spaces without accountability, but violence is not how we hold people to account. To then blame black women who have been subjected to this violation for the actions of their husbands is a classic form of misogynoir.
The hypocrisy is maddening. What’s more, members of the Academy have called for Will Smith to be stripped of his Oscar. I say absolutely not. Yes, actions must have consequences, but those consequences cannot be disproportionate and discriminatory. By all means reprimand him, give him a fine, ban him from attending. But to take away his Oscar? That’s a joke worthy of Chris Rock. For many years, the Academy garlanded white men who have been convicted or alleged to have raped, sexually assaulted and harassed women. None of their Oscars were taken from them. Harvey Weinstein is serving a 23-year sentence for rape and criminal sexual act has not been stripped of his individual Oscar for the movie Shakespeare in Love, which he produced in 1998. Roman Polanski was convicted of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor has an Oscar for Best Director the 2002 movie, The Pianist, but still gets to keep his trophy. A long list of white men with Oscars have committed unspeakable acts and it’s a black man people finally wish to make an example of? Sorry, but the Academy Awards can’t pick and choose who or how it penalizes for breaches of conduct when it doesn’t apply the same standard to those who have behaved worse.
Yes, race matters. Our lived experiences demonstrates that black people are disproportionately penalised compared to their white counterparts for the same or similar acts. If the Academy wants to set a precedent of stripping Oscars to punish violent acts perpetrated by its members, I strongly suggest it takes a good long look at its own history. Until it takes away abusers’ gongs, it should leave Will Smith’s Oscar alone. This black man will not be its scape goat. And the black woman will not be a Jezebel.
