The truth is, Awards ceremonies have had a Will Smith moment coming for years.
For too long they’ve been fertile ground for so-called comics whose “jokes” have been the kind of thing for which they’d be punched in the face in the pub.
None of us condone violence. But when the US actor Smith slapped the comedian and Oscar host Chris Rock for telling an offensive joke about his superstar wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, the only surprise was that an incident like that had taken so long to arrive.
Shame on Rock for that “gag” at Pinkett-Smith’s alopecia.
Why would that be the basis for a joke in front of a global audience? Suppose she’d had breast cancer, would that have been fair game? What would you do if that had been someone you love?
As Smith - winner of the Best Actor award for his role in the film King Richard - points out, guests at these events are and have been forced to squirm for way too long over the years as hosts have pulled apart their private lives and humiliated them in front of a national audience.
Viewers around the world - often the first to preach about being kind - are unsympathetic, arguing that fame and the vast fortunes of the subjects somehow insulates them from feeling the embarrassment you or I would be seething from.
Smith at first tried to laugh his way through it - just as you or I would. But then he snapped. Understandably so.
Too many of these awards hosts - many of whom have zero boundaries - are hailed as ‘edgy’ and ‘fearless’ when in fact they are simply disrespectful.
Smith’s strike could yet end up being the most positive - pardon the pun - punchline the Oscars has had for years.
