Will Smith was not entitled to publicly collect his Oscar and should have been removed from the theatre as soon as he slapped Chris Rock.
That “slap” which actually sounded like a punch is an unbearable watch, not just for the violence but the puffed-out swagger of Smith walking back to his seat.
Smith should have been pulled out of that room like any other perpetrator of an assault and driven to the nearest police station.
Instead, millions watched as privilege and exceptionalism circumnavigated the law.
Sobbing as he made his acceptance speech, he portrayed himself as the great protector of his family.
He compared himself to the father of Venus and Serena Williams when accepting the Oscar for playing him in the movie King Richard.
A standing ovation after he had behaved like a thug gave Smith confirmation there was a moral justification to his actions. He said: “I look like the crazy father.”
An insulting comparison since Richard Williams was not violent, despite being subjected to constant abuse, and he has since condemned Smith’s violence.
Smith is Jada Pinkett Smith’s husband, not her father and infantilising her like a helpless little girl hurtled us back to the 50s.
Pinkett Smith is an accomplished actress, the razor-sharp host of her own Emmy-winning talk show, who earned her place in Time magazine’s top 100 most influential people of 2021.
Her husband’s temper robbed her of the chance to use her platform and her words to react to Rock’s tasteless jibe about her alopecia.
She would have done so with aplomb and dignity and she is more than capable of cutting Rock down to size.
Pinkett Smith would have formulated more eloquent phrasing than “Keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth” and Rock would now be apologising, not Smith.
There has been much said about Smith’s childhood and his regret that he was a “coward” who didn’t stand up to his father who brutalised and beat his mother.
That in itself is a ridiculous notion, that a child could ever be expected to tackle an abuser.
And in this context, any reference to Smith’s childhood only tells us violence begets violence.
For his son Jaden to then tweet “That’s how we do it” is hopefully not a reflection of a cycle of toxic masculinity in the Smith family line.
American TV host Craig Melvin slammed Smith for perpetuating the idea that “men of colour can’t control anger”.
But it is unfair to bring Smith’s race into the discussion and paint him as the fallen black role model.
No one expects every famous white person to, in Smith’s words, “be a river to my people”.
Smith is a talented actor and he made history as only the fifth black man to ever receive the Best Actor award.
But he gained his status as a role model largely because he became obscenely wealthy and famous, not particularly noble aspirations.
He is no Syndey Poitier, whose work was seminal in the apartheid era of America when he became the first black man to win an acting Oscar.
Poitier invested both his time and his money in agitating for civil rights, risking his life under attack from the KKK when blacks and whites weren’t allowed to share the same water fountain.
Poitier said: “I wanted to be the kind of person in my behaviour and values that reflected something that others may look on and say, There’s value in that.’”
Poitier conscientiously set out to be a role model but for Smith the expectation was foisted upon him with his Hollywood success.
Smith’s actions reflect the egotism and exceptionalism of the Hollywood elite and that he is a brat but they have nothing to do with his race.
Phil memorial should have been private
There is something distasteful about holding a memorial to the late Prince Philip when half the country is putting on another jumper because they can’t afford the heating.
All that privilege, pomp and ceremony comes with a hefty price tag for the taxpayer in security alone.
One of Her Majesty’s hats could pay a family’s bills for months.
While I sympathise with the Queen over the loss of her husband, she should have held her own memorial in one of the many castles we pay for.
Harry has been criticised for not turning up as he sulks over the Government’s refusal to give him police protection during any visits to the country.
But one clown who did show up to the circus was Prince Andrew, a man utterly without shame. He is entitled to attend a memorial for his grandfather – one more reason why it should have been held in private.
Philip is held up as some hard-working saint when he was actually a racist snob who considered us a nation of serfs.
There surely comes a point when the rest of us can stop stumping up to mourn him.
Nice work, Kim
Kim Kardashian has apologised for her “get your f***ing a** up and work” advice for women.
But we all know she was right.
That’s why so many nurses and care workers who slaved through Covid have quit because according to Kim, they will all be billionaires now.
Well done, ladies, just look what happens when you try.
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