The left-right political divide is fracturing in the wake of Will Smith’s attack on Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars.
Actor Will Smith took the stage at the awards show Sunday to slap the heck out of host Chris Rock, who made a joke at the expense of Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Smith can initially be seen laughing at the joke while his wife rolls her eyes, clearly unamused.
The bizarre nature of the slap has many questioning its authenticity, but Rock’s reaction seemed pretty damn real. He could barely find his words afterwards. (RELATED: ‘Marriage For Us Can’t Be A Prison’: Will Smith Reveals He And Jada Do Not Always Practice Monogamy)
Why is will smith laughing after the joke? He laughs, then he gets all tough guy slaps Chris Rock goes back shouts almost like he’s acting like the tough guy rather than being one. I’m not saying it staged I’m saying Will Smith seems to be playing a role to look a part not be it. https://t.co/KDk0nrciqE
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) March 28, 2022
Twitter immediately leaped into action with a whirlwind of opinions and takes on the slap. It would appear that the slap has finally broken down the clear left-right political divide on social media, uniting and dividing as many as the 2016 presidential election cycle did.
While many Twitter users know where they stand on the slap, a general consensus has yet to be revealed. Some users are anti-violence of any kind and have demanded that Smith return his Oscar, according to the Daily Mail. Smith used his acceptance speech to defend his actions, saying, “love makes you do crazy things,” which some users argued set a “dangerous precedent” for validating violent outbursts as “acts of love,” the outlet continued.
Others are pro-defending women and have applauded Smith for standing up for his wife. At least two Squad members, Jamaal Bowman and Ayanna Pressley posted in defense of Smith but quickly deleted their pro-slap comments.
Apparently 1/3 of the squad came out pro-slap then deleted their tweets. pic.twitter.com/IL6qxMNO7V
— Mike Pesca (@pescami) March 28, 2022
Former Democratic Texas lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Matthew Dowd questioned whether people would be pro-slap if comedian Amy Schumer had made the joke and Smith had hit her. Former Republican National Committee chief Michael Steele noted that it was a “sad commentary” that Smith could slap Rock on live television, win an award and receive a standing ovation for an acceptance speech focused on “love.”
We may never know what makes one fall into the pro- or anti-slap categories. The whole event seems to have finally given Americans something to focus on outside of political ideology.
“Seeing conservatives say that Will Smith did a cancel culture and couldn’t take a joke and others saying he upheld masculine virtue; libs split between saying Will defended black and women and that he did a violence, finally something that splits political blocs, thank you Will Smith,” journalist Matthew Zeitlin posted to Twitter, before adding, “without Trump on Twitter no one know(s) where to line up.”
It may take a while for the dust to settle around Smith/Rock’s slapgate. Until the sides are clearly defined, plenty of people are using the pretty pathetic fight for some of the best comedic content seen online for a while.
“He got in one little fight and his mom got scared and said you’re moving with your auntie and uncle in Bel Air”
— Carl Higbie (@CarlHigbie) March 28, 2022
And the world of memes will never be the same again…
Had to pic.twitter.com/JtSpuIcA9G
— Metabiota Poso🧬 (@JackPosobiec) March 28, 2022
Arguably the funniest tweet about the slap was posted by user Nomchompsky: “It’s actually not funny at all? Will Smith could have killed him with that slap. What if his hand had been full of bees and Chris Rock was allergic to bees and one of the bees stung Chris and nobody had an epipen. Not so funny now is it.”
Personally, I’m here for the jokes and memes. I don’t see the point in watching any awards show unless Ricky Gervais is hosting.