Unless you’ve been living under a rock (pun unintended) or have bigger issues to tend to, everyone knows about the infamous slap heard around messy circles. Comedian Chris Rock made a moment of his brief presenting duties at the 2022 Oscars when he decided to crack some barely funny jokes, one being about Hollywood peer Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald hairstyle. The implication was that he would make the mostly White audience laugh at the expense of a woman, a Black woman — because what’s a little bullying if laughing is involved?
Welp, we know how that ended. Just like it would in the “semi-hood.” Just like it has in all those Hollywood depictions of Black people (and others) inflicting pain and violence on each other over money, power, and sex.
So, imagine the shock of La La Land when Will Smith, Jada’s husband by the way, invited Rock to his hands with a slap. Not a full-blown, with-all-his-force slap, or closed-fist punch. But, a warning slap. Similar to the one in The Godfather when Don Vito Corleone gives a wakeup call slap to his godson Johnny Fontane.
Or the one in Love & Basketball when mother figure Camille Wright slaps the heebie jeebies out of her daughter Monica, played by Sanaa Lathan, for being disrespectful.
Yes, yes, violence is not the answer. Smith knows that, so in the heat of the summer, he released a video directly apologizing to Rock (again) for his actions.
“I reached out to Chris and the message that came back is that he’s not ready to talk and when he is, he will reach out,” Smith said in the video. “I will say to you, Chris, I apologize to you. My behavior was unacceptable and I’m here when you’re ready to talk.”
Smith also apologized to Rock’s mother, brother, and the rest of the comedian’s family. He admitted that there was “no part” of him that thought the slap was “the optimal way to handle disrespect or insults.”
Smith also informed everyone that his wife had nothing to do with his actions — a very much-needed statement given that so many critics fully blamed Jada for these two men’s grown a** decisions. The last part of Smith’s apology was cringe in that he really went in on himself for “letting people down” as a person of great influence and appeal.
Smith’s apology was the right thing to do. As the world is privileged to watch two men of wealth and fame have a tumultuous moment, and work toward resolution without gun violence or escalating the situation to irreparability — even if Rock is taking his time to let it go — the incident serves as a lesson for the Black community, and the world, that is more than essential post-pandemic.
Social media, the news, and police reports are showing evidence of humans getting into spats everyday, but those incidents of disrespect and the subsequent violence rank higher in consequences than just ego-driven public humiliation. Most likely than often, those confrontations end in economic blacklisting, loss of freedom, and expired lives. You understand.
So, while Hollywood and social media bots are speaking for the Black community, going on and on about how Rock and Smith’s beef ruined the image of Black people all over (as if there wasn’t a perceived image of Black people already affecting our daily encounters) and how we’re so hurt by that stupid a** slap, here is the real business.
It was entertainment. Fodder. Something to talk about for those who like to gossip — it makes them feel good about themselves. And when something else happens, that will be the running story to fill those voids. That’s why it’s imperative that Smith doesn’t continue to punish himself and Rock doesn’t dwindle away in stubbornness.
To be fair, seeing the two Hollywood stars reconcile their differences on a public platform may have the intangible benefit of inspiring the easily impressionable to do the same when they are confronted with an issue. However, in reality, Smith’s apology and Rock’s forgiveness (or lack thereof) won’t pay the “little people’s” bills, physically feed our children, prevent a repossession or eviction, change the local racist’s heart if they didn’t have the heart in the first place, or bring our loved ones back from the dead. Not unless the two powerhouses decide to take action in some of these issues, specifically.
With that said, the Black community must be very cautious in making Hollywood moments our truth. How does it look when one is suffering from poverty, disenfranchisement, or systemic racism, but has the time to worry about whether Smith’s apology was genuine? Are you kidding?
And now a word for Mr. Rock. If forgiveness was easy, it wouldn’t require any of us to be the bigger person. An opp is an opp, and once someone crosses you, you have the right to not invite that person back into your space. But, carrying around a grudge with all the blessings and favor you’ve garnered in life…It feels like an entitled person’s problem. The problem of a person who has lost touch with his Everybody Hates Chris era — the era in which most of us “regular” folk can relate, because quite frankly we weren’t all born privileged, sir. I could see if Smith took your loved one or called for everyone in Hollywood to blacklist you affecting your ability to earn, but his inexcusable response to what you said was more trivial than that. And let’s not forget your part in all this. Mrs. Pinkett Smith deserves an apology from you.
For Mr. Smith, actions, actions, and self-esteem. Everyone has been on the side of wrong at least once in their lives — whether it be road rage, not giving a homeless person money when you got it, or taking credit for someone else’s original work — there’s not one grown human on earth that can cast a stone. So, whatever you do, you have to look at yourself in the mirror and know that all is well within you, sir. With that said, hurting yourself to appease others is not it, and I hope you have someone around you to tell you that.
