The Slap Heard Around The World: The Will Smith Incident

I do NOT condone violence. I commend kindness!

I believe life is beautiful. I, as many of you, love to keep an optimistic mindset in 2022.

I believe we will still make great things happen, be happy, and flourish. However, this has been a very disturbing, unkind, and heart breaking 2022 for the world. And I am not just talking about the Russia attack on Ukraine, the pandemic, and people we have lost. But, if you saw the recent Oscar TV broadcast, then you know exactly what I am talking about.

To be honest, I didn’t even know there was an Oscar show that night. I was too focused on my work and my life, as I am sure many of you were as well.

However, within seconds my whole focus shifted. Let’s just say that “Slap” reached Windsor, Ontario all the way from Hollywood!

It was that tense moment when a great comedian named Chris Rock made a joke about another great actor’s (Will Smith) wife, Jada.

I saw a clip and saw Will laughing at the joke, seconds before his walk on stage. It appeared to be a genuine laugh. But I also noticed Jada was not amused as much. She rolled her eyes back and boom the camera cut right back to Chris.

Something happened in those seconds when the camera moved away and before you know it, Will Smith walked up to the stage.

While most of us were thinking that he was going to make a comeback joke, we were all caught off guard just like Chris was.

Will smacked Chris. It was no light slap. It was a hard and angry slap.

Sure, people thought it was funny because they did not know the seriousness of it. But once Will returned to his seat and shouted profanity, then the world knew . . . this was no joke. And it especially was “not staged” as some thought and still believe.

He used the F word twice and told Chris to not talk about his wife. I am not going to quote it, as we know what he said.

Chris looked stunned and mixed his words up. But the man composed himself and carried on with the show like the badass he is.

Now here are my thoughts on this and what you and I can learn.
First of all, this is not a knock at Will Smith. I like Will Smith. I enjoy his music, movies, and positivity. He is part of my childhood. So you can see how I and many others were clearly disappointed. It was that day I lost a little respect for him and gained a lot more respect for Chris.

I lost respect for the Academy for allowing Will Smith to sit through the entire award ceremony. When he refused to leave, they should have called the authorities. Just because he is an elite actor, does not mean he should get special treatment. I also lost respect for those who gave him a standing ovation after getting his Oscar.

What are they saying? You can hit people who never physically attacked you, get cheered for it and say we love you?

You can allow him to sit through the entire show and then after that, enjoy an after party?

To me, Chris Rock was the real Oscar winner.
To me, Chris was making reference to Jada’s hair like a military haircut from the movie, GI Jane. There was no reference to her disease. I don’t even think he was aware of it. I believe he meant no harm and Chris Rock was simply being Chris Rock. And he is a great comedian. This is what he does best.

Will took it as a form of an insult being made at his wife about her disease of alopecia. (A condition where you lose some or most hair on the head or other areas of the body.)

Clearly a misunderstanding.

I am not biased, but this is how I see it. Chris remained professional, but Will chose violence and threw kindness out the window.

“Vessels for love” . . . Definitely not that day
Mr. Smith said, “I want to be a vessel for love.” But love is kindness, peace, empathy, and compassion. It is not violence and anger.

To be a loving person, we do the right things, we help those who need us and if we are offended, we certainly don’t go on stage and assault someone. We gently pull them aside and tell them they offended us by their remarks.

His well deserved Oscar was overshadowed
In one second a reputation can be tarnished. Will is known as this nice guy and I have no doubt, he is a nice guy. But it took just seconds for one action to cause a negative reaction. His Oscar took a back seat.
His moment of a lifetime was dropped with angry and disappointing comments made towards him by fans around the world.

The majority of the people did not even congratulate him, but instead, you see words like “Why?” “How could you?” “Disgusting behaviour.” “I will NEVER pay to see or waste my time watching your movies again.” And there were plenty of other outrageous comments that I can’t write here.

We must be careful with our actions because that is one way we are judged. It takes seconds to ruin friendships, relationships, and the reputation we have with people.

If we are kind people, then we should stay kind to people everywhere we go, and even behind closed doors. We must not say we are this and do the exact opposite. We cannot love conditionally i.e., “I like him, but I hate her.”

Yes people make mistakes, but mistakes are something that really can ruin someone.

Remember, Mondays through Sundays are different days with different weather. Yet the only things you should keep the same are your kindness, integrity, and class.

Our actions are a reaction
We are responsible for our actions, both good and not so good. We cannot blame people for what they say about us or how they treat us.

In the end how we react, can make or break us. Will had plenty of time to think about what he was going to do. He could have talked himself out of it. Instead he chose to hit someone and now must suffer the consequences.

He had plenty of time during his long speech to apologize, but he chose not to.

Yes he apologized later on Instagram, but it was not as effective as having the opportunity to do it on the stage when the whole world was watching.

My advice is to continue to do the right things and, as I mentioned above, stay a class act always. Everything in this world is a reflection of what we do, and how we conduct ourselves with people.
Will’s negative action (violence)) caused much disappointment.

Chris Rock’s reaction was a man of class. And his actions received much praise in the social media world and during his comedy show in Boston. He could have done or said worse and yet the man continued after composing himself, even though he was being humiliated.

Your children are learning
When Will Smith’s son tweeted, “That’s How We Do It”, then that means he is saying it is okay to hit someone who was not a threat or caused no harm to anyone. He is being taught that violence is okay in this case. No it’s not.

Violence is never okay and it brings nothing but sadness. Look at Ukraine. Look at all the innocent people dying. All of this is being done through violence.

Somewhere he is being taught that this is right and acceptable. Regardless of whether it was a joke or an insult, you don’t hit people, especially if they are not a threat to you.

Every day is an opportunity for us. It is not the opportunity to hurt, but to heal and be of great service to those who need people like you.

I wish the best for Will Smith and hope he takes his actions as a gentle reminder that our purpose in this world is to continue being good upstanding citizens who inspire and make a positive impact for the betterment of the world.

Let us remember, violence is destructive, but kindness is effective.
God bless you and never give up.

Sincerely, Danny Gautama (The Fighter)

UPDATE

As an update to my article, it has been confirmed that Mr. Smith resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, (The Oscars) subsequently after “The slap heard around the world.”

I just want to share some thoughts on this.

I believe he did the right thing. Smith has held himself accountable based on his actions. He is “heartbroken” and he felt he “betrayed the trust of the Academy.” He has accepted all consequences based on this unfortunate event that took place.

Now I want to make something clear.

First off, Will Smith is NOT a bad person. He made a bad decision. There is a big difference.

He is getting a lot of hateful comments, but the fact is he is still a human being who is hurting inside. He made a huge mistake and now he is trying to rebuild himself.

I am not justifying his actions in any way, shape, and form. He was wrong on every level. He would tell you that too.

However, cursing and nasty comments probably make healing harder for not just Will Smith, but all of us.

Forgiveness is beautiful. That is the first step of healing for everyone in the world through this incident.

We must give him a second chance.

He has taken the first step in accepting responsibility and removing himself from The Academy.

I wholeheartedly believe Will Smith and Chris Rock will see each other face to face. And I also see a big heartwarming hug.

We want peace. With peace there is much love and kindness. We are good people because that is our true core values and beliefs.