Have you ever slapped someone for words they said about your partner?
The slap heard around the world was administered by Will Smith at the Oscars last night after Chris Rock made an offhand joke about Jada Pinkett Smith and her Alopecia. It was not an approved joke by the Oscars and it clearly didn't go down well with the Smiths.
Chris Rock was on the stage to present the best Documentary award when he made the comment. Will looked to be unphased by the comment until he saw his wife's reaction to it. Then he went from all smiles to slapping the comic in the face within seconds. He then went back to his seat and yelled "keep my wife's name out of you f*****g mouth.
Chris Rock took it amazingly well and continued the show like a true professional.
The thing is this, I think that if Will Smith had taken Chris aside after the awards show and spoken to him and told him it was really disrespectful to talk about his wife like that, it probably would have made Chris Rock look bad and Will Smith look good. But by turning to violence, Will Smith has put himself in the firing line for some serious consequences.
Should Chris Rock have said those things? Probably not. Should Will Smith have reacted like he did? Absolutely not. I can say with certainty that I had more respect for him before last night.
Standing up for people who need it is admirable and noble, but what he did was not. There are ways to go about doing the right thing, but what he did was not one of them.