On March 27, at the 94th Oscar Academy Awards, actor Will Smith slapped presenter Chris Rock by making a personal joke about his wife while every actor at the awards ceremony and 9.85 million viewers were watching. Unpredictable events occurred and many were shocked but couldn’t help. 

“Jada, G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it,” Rock said. He specifically targeted Will Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. 

 Smith gave a response to him and repeated close to 40 times; “Keep my wife’s name out of my f***ing mouth”

Rock’s mentioned movie, G.I. Jane was filmed with the story of the Navy, beginning to open a program, allowing women to join the Navy. The main character, Jordan, shaved her hair which Rock referenced to Jada.  

Jada Pinkett Smith has experienced alopecia and therefore shaved her hair. Alopecia, in other words, is hair loss caused due to heredity, medical conditions, or hormonal changes. Some might not think of it as an issue, but the remark was personal and could be offensive. 

While it was a joke, Smith shouldn’t have acted out how he felt. The Oscars night is a night of celebration and recognition instead of a night of mockery and ridiculing. He could have had a conversation about it after the awards ended. I believe he overreacted and ruined the atmosphere of Oscar. The night was supposed to be meant to be fun and enjoyable but instead, it was filled with anger and feelings that couldn’t be controlled. He needed to hold back or control his emotions, not be out of control.

Same with Rock, he shouldn’t trigger somebody or make fun of someone’s private space. Besides, it was a public place, and more than 900 actors were watching. The public place isn’t meant to make manipulative jokes and disrespectful. Also, he knew what he was talking about and it can be understood as a purpose. It could be considered verbal harassment. 

I believe both of them were guilty. Rock shouldn’t make a joke about someone’s personal issue and Smith shouldn’t use violence any time in public space. 

Later, Smith gave a statement that said he has decided to resign from the Oscar Academy Awards: “Change takes time and I am committed to doing the work to ensure that I never again allow violence to overtake reason.”