Much of the Hollywood community and the world at large were rocked by the 2022 Academy Awards, where Chris Rock was slapped by Will Smith slapped on stage after the comic made a joke abou his spouse. In the immediate aftermath, numerous celebrities weighed in on the situation, with a number of them chastising Smith for his actions. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar shared a complex to the situation in his newsletter, as he cited the severity of Smith’s actions while also providing him with some level of support. His article went viral and has since accumulated millions of views, and the sports icon is now getting candid about why he wrote on the slap, despite being “reluctant” at the onset.
