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THE INFAMOUS SLAP at last night’s Academy Awards has immediately been labelled one of the most shocking incidents in more than 90 years of Oscars history.
The fallout from the altercation looks set to run and run and it may prove to be a defining moment in the careers of both Will Smith and Chris Rock.
Theories abound as to to why it happened but for Paddy Pender of Alopecia Ireland the answer is straightforward. Smith had simply had enough.
“I’d say they’ve had to put up with so much. Violence isn’t appropriate at all but you can see how it would happen,” Pender said.
Alopecia Ireland provides support, raises awareness and educates people with all types of Alopecia – a condition that causes significant hair loss – and their families.
Pender paid tribute to Jada Pinkett Smith – Smith’s wife and the target of Rock’s joke – for speaking publicly about her alopecia diagnosis.
The spokeswoman was certain that it wasn’t the first time Pinkett Smith’s alopecia was the source of ridicule and for Smith it was simply “the last straw.”
She said conditions such as alopecia affect the person with the condition in the first instance and also their families and friends.
“When we are ridiculed most of us have close family and friends who understand our upset and are often powerless to defend us. The emotional strain can be harder as they watch,” Pender explained.
He’s hitting out for all of us. He’s not fighting back for Jada alone. It’s for every family that has to tolerate that kind of smart comment or funny look.
“He struck out for all of us. But it wasn’t right,” she said.
“You’ve got to remember Chris spoke first and he issued the first slap. It was verbal, but it was a slap. A verbal slap can be even more upsetting, traumatic and hurtful than a physical one.”
Pinkett Smith revealed her alopecia diagnosis in 2018 and the actress regularly discusses the challenges she faces with hair loss.
A recent example came in January when she posted on her Instagram about a new patch of baldness she discovered.
While Rock’s remark was made in a public forum, while the whole world was watching, Pender noted that similar comments on social media cause similar upset but don’t spark the same coverage, leaving the person alone with the hurt.
“I do notice that people, especially the younger ones, that a comment on a social media platform can really knock them for six,” Pender said.
“The incident has highlighted the ease with which some people feel free to comment on others without taking into account the knock-on effect on individuals. The emotional cost is high.
“Jokes at peoples’ expense are frequent enough and for some people, the jokes drive them to socialise less and restrict their activities.
“For children living with alopecia, we hope the schools and colleges are able to help them,” Pender added.
Alopecia is a long-term chronic inflammatory condition which affects hair follicles and leads to hair loss.
International research indicates that it affects nearly 2% of the general population at some point during their lifetime.
Unlike male or female pattern hair loss, which tends to develop in a typical pattern, alopecia areata causes patches of hair loss while alopecia totalis causes complete hair loss on the scalp.
The specific cause is unknown however there are known factors such as genetics and stress.
Alopecia Ireland is a voluntary organisation that supports people with Alopecia Areata. You can find their website here.
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People needing to be worried that every joke they make, everything they say, any opinion that is controversial, will lead others into deep emotional distress (which is nonsense) is far more damaging than jokes about alopecia. People, even charities, are tacitly endorsing violence because of a joke made by a millionaire at another millionaire. The mind boggles.
“that a comment on a social media platform can really knock them for six’, you see the problem there is not the comments, it’s that people are not resilient, they are not being given enough inner self worth to weather things that are perfectly normal like JOKES and CRITICISM.
@v39e84kK: Nah. This isn’t it. Comedians should avoid jokes about people’s medical conditions. It’s a simple thing to avoid. There’s literally everything else to choose from. It’s possible CR didn’t know about the alopecia though. It all played out as it would have anywhere but just so happened to be at the Oscars. Fair enough. Onwards.
@JusticeForJoe: I’m going bald naturally, am I allowed be mocked? it’s just a joke, granted not a great one, but I get jokes every day about being bald, and the best way to get over it is to make myself the butt of the joke first. I personally don’t make fun of these things, because depending on who makes the jokes at my expense it annoys me. But I wouldn’t ever in a thousand years think it’s acceptable to assault someone over a joke, particularly in a setting where merciless bad jokes are expected, like at the Oscars. It was a poor joke, but that cannot take away from the disgusting overreaction from Smith, he’s shown he’s a total clown and has no credibility for me anymore.
@JusticeForJoe: No, comedians should make jokes. Depending on ones definition most things are can be medical conditions.
@Patrick Breen: It was a tame joke, barely funny. There’s a lot to unpack in the situation IMO. For example let’s imagine it was Smith himself who was targeted in the joke instead. Would there be as many people endorsing him physically assaulting a man? I think not, there’s a kind of acceptable sexism here in the virtue of him “protecting” his wife. Which in another context would be said to be bad.
@v39e84kK: Good point
Most of Chris Rock humour (if you wish to call it that) is more lame than tame. He is naturally offensive in the hope of getting nervous giggles from folks who are uncertain how to respond to his foul take on life. What Will Smith did was very wrong. You need to ignore these types of individuals rather giving them the publicity they crave
@Fintan O’Halloran: There’s a trend sparked by Gervais of saying downright obnoxious stuff. This wasn’t the worst thing that has been said but maybe some of the other offendees weren’t sitting within striking distance. Anyway the point is that Rock wouldn’t have got the gig unless he was going to be outrageously offensive. The whole point is skewering the celebrity millionaires.
@Patrick Breen: Many are still of the opinion it was a set up, hence the slap rather then a punch which is for many a more natural reaction when angry.
@Jason Walsh: I just don’t see the gain for Smith though, I can see why the Oscars might want it, although in this case bad press isn’t good press coz it’s overshadowed the whole event, and not in a positive way I think, so I don’t think it was a set up, but I wouldn’t be in total disbelief if it was. Anyway the reaction has been wild, I don’t think the precedent of being assaulted for a bad joke is a good one, comedians already risk being ‘cancelled’, if things continue we’ll have no decent comedy left, for fear people would get offended, and that to me is offensive, so I demand an apology from someone.
@v39e84kK: Words can hurt and language changes over time. Words like moron, lunatic, cripple and spastic were once commonplace and used in legislation or in the titles of charities. Would you favour bring back “jokes” using those words or advise the victims of abuse to become “more resilient”?
@Patrick Breen: whatever about smith there is definitely no upside for rock. He just ends up looking silly.
@Patrick Breen: maybe little gain for Will Smith but Jada Pinkett will get a good few talk shows, probably even an Oprah appearance after it. I actually didn’t know she had alopecia till the joke and I’m sure most others didn’t know either. That said, it’s hard to know if anything like this is real or not cos the act seems so bizarre. Don’t think anybody came out looking well from it
Now this is a story all about how ,
My life got flipped-turned upside down ,
I’d like to take a minute, just sit right there ,
I’ll tell you how I became a price of a town called,
Bell Hair !!!!!!
He laughed at it and then had enough!
@Breda Clarke: more like he laughed at it and then saw the scowl on his missus’s face and realised he’d be on the couch if he didn’t defend her honour……..
@Barry Evans: He is often on the couch while she is riding other lads.
@v39e84kK: fair point lol
If the joke was made by a female comedian and he slapped her would his outburst be still ok? Would he be given the easy ride he is getting. It’s ok for to strike a man??
@Richard Griffin: c’mon man it’s the elephant in the room. There’s equality, then there’s sections/genders/races of society that are “more equal”.
@Richard Griffin: Or if a white actor hit a black comedian
@Stephen Foster: more equal…A man hitting a man is equal, so it’s ok? A man hits a woman, it’s not ok as they are not equal? Would that make it ok for a woman to hit a man in that train of thought then?
No matter what your opinion using violence is no way to show your disdain, I think Smith’s wholesome image has been damaged. What ever the Smith house house holds private life’s are this will bring unwanted intrusion now. Rock no doubt will get some mileage out of it and him being a pretty ( s h I t e ) husband to his ex only makes me feel no one looks good or comes out good from this. Alopicia it’s self must be hard for women as their confidence is impacted so much but the fact no one stepped in to stop or intercede in this makes me feel there’s more to this than meets the eye.
@Epgenetics29 Declan Christoph: i agree it looks very staged, to me anyway Strange the whole thing. Men dont slap that theatrically, nor do men who get slapped act like that.
@Deirdre: It wasn’t exactly a natural setting. I’d say Smith got up there and realized he had to do something but decided against a full punch at the last second. Rock knew his career might depend on his response so stood there frozen deciding how to react
@Deirdre: sorry but men slap other men like that when they want to disrespect them. It’s not a out hurting them but about letting them know They are a bctih and a slap is all they are good for
@Anthony Hilton: bit like an Irish Mammy slapping the smile to the other side of their offsprings face
Smith was laughing at the joke, & then a sudden change, & BAM. The non joke was hugely inappropriate, as was Smith’s reaction.
@Ann Experiment: Yes, turning from laughter to rage so quickly is a red flag for other underlying issues.
Drugs or mental instability are a possibility.
I’m not saying what he did was right, but all ye lot saying “but he laughed at the joke first!”.. he was laughing along automatically at Chris Rock in front of the cameras.. it takes a few seconds sometimes to absorb the meaning of a joke !
@Johnny Mads: it didn’t take Jada a few seconds.
Definitely staged, apparently the guy who hit Chris Rock is a professional actor!!
Even tough I do not particularly like Chris Rock, his joke did not warrant a slap.
As a public figure, you need to be able to show some restraint (thus why fame is not for everyone), asking an apology should have been largely enough. Indeed, youth, as influenceable as we know, are watching this.
The only joke in all this is The Journal doing a comments closed debunk on the humourous “celebrities reaction” picture collage. Get a grip, Journal: you’re taking yourself too seriously!
Was quite surprised to learn that Chris Rock and Will Smith do their own stunt work…
Ffs this is a set up … it’s the only news from the Oscars… they are on the way out … has something similar not happened before on a regular basis to get Oscars bit of publicity. Always have some plan to stop everyone falling asleep.
Im outraged..
@John Smith: keep your hair on
@The Divils Avocado: well, I’m disgusted at that comment.
Apparently there was no issue with it during the Saturday dress rehearsal!
Violence in front of children is violence on children. Ya Rock was a clown but Smith is the whole circus.
@Allora: I’d be amazed if children would be fit to sit through the snore fest of the Oscars.
Go on smith
“… he issued the first slap. It was verbal, but it was a slap”
But, well, it wasn’t though.
When Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin co-hosted the Oscars (maybe 20 plus years ago), some of their ‘material’ was hard to take. One directed at Russell Crowe was way beyond anything I’d consider justifiable under the term ‘comedy’. Maybe there will be a bit more discretion and self-control next year.
Go on smith
Bet he wishes he had one of those memory wipe devices from MIB right about now
Poor Chris Rock that was a hair raising night for him and the waking up this morning with fresh prints on his face
@Tommy Thomason: ba dum tss.
@Tommy Thomason: I think Chris Rock is delighted that he is the hero in all of this and his Oscar winning rival is the villain. Bunch of rich, spoilt kids who dont know how to behave themselves.
Smith has a history of this kind of thing, remember a male journalist tried to plant a kiss on him at a red carpet event and his automatic reaction was to slap the guys face. It’s on YouTube.
@Nirvana Barbarossa: I would have done the exact same thing.
@OConnelj: So would I FFS! What the hell is wrong with people these days? A world full of absolute fr€aks!!!
I’m ginger
Guy is a thug end of.
World needed LOVE last night, instead got more aggressive egotistical violence….shame
It was right.. he was right.. 100% I have insulted my mom once and I got a slap for the word I used… I never used it again ever.. Enough with all the snowflakes.. if your man enough to through words like that then your man enough to take a slap and learn a lesson.. wake up like.
Some things do not need debunking.
Are you people for real??
Do you really think this was not an act?
C’mon guys!!!!
@Larry Byrne: wha…u think..
Wha…an act…so before he potentially gets his Oscar and he was heavily tipped to get it…he’s gonna orchestrate slapping Chris rock…and Chris is In on this…and part of the act is to insult Smiths wife…then use bad language, shouting from his seat…are u nuts!?
@Hear me now: all correct except for last bit. Well maybe a little.
@Hear me now: all correct except for last bit. Well maybe a little.
@Hear me now: all correct except for last bit. Well maybe a little.
@Hear me now: it worked fine in rehearsals.
@Larry Byrne: ah shur I’m.a little nuts myself lol…but yea, twas real alrite…worse things have happened I suppose…
@Larry Byrne: I 100% assumed it was a stunt until i saw the uncensored clip of Will Smith roaring F bombs at Chris Rock after the slap. Definitely wasn’t an act. The tension was clear and obvious in the room.
If Ricky gervase had made the joke it would have been fine. He said lot worse and was no issues.
Smith has a history of acting in violent roles like in the movie iRobot..why is everyone surprised.
@Roger Bond: LMAO. what????? I’m, sorry but WHAT???????. What kind of logic is that!!!! Lmao. I can’t even deal with internet people anymore lol, I swear , this takes the biscuit lol
Where is my comment? My perfectly worded completely inoffensive and short comment? I’m presuming I’ve upset someone here? A moderator perhaps? When have I ever been less than lovely to The Journal? Oh well.
I’m a grown man who loves movies. Loves Will Smith. Loves Chris Rock. Doesn’t love the Oscars, but loves to see the movie stars. What I saw in that moment was absolutely depraved and violent beyond any necessity. Yes, the joke is in poor taste, but like CR claimed, he referenced her shaved head, not the reason behind it. She suffers bouts of alopecia that repair themselves over time, depending on type. But all of that even aside, that violence was hideous. From someone everyone loves, toward someone everyone loves. And why? Will Smith himself heartily laughed at the joke. Then had a sudden turn around to assault someone on live television? Big a fan as I am, what Will did was nothing more than grandstanding to compare himself to a movie role and to reinforce what he thinks people’s idea of his marriage to Jada should be. The awkward displays of affection throughout the night were off-putting, even away from the attack. I love Will Smith and hopefully over time he can get past this. But wow, that was shocking. Let’s be honest.
The need for comedians to ridicule is tragic
@James Gorman: comedy has been doing this for 2 thousand years! You’d think in all that time, people like you would learn that a JOKE and ridicule, are two entirely different things.
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