For the record - this was Will Smith's reaction to the GI Jane joke

[speak easy]

What followed afterwards was a reaction to something else - perhaps his wife being upset that he was laughing - who knows, but it was not the joke.

[lisa58]

1. He laughed- she got pissed off...

He committed a crime - they got serious problems

[whathehell]

5. Yeah..She probably had the nerve to be offended

and imagine he might care about that!..The outrageous expectations of these modern women!

[Eliot Rosewater]

2. He may have seen her reaction and figured he had to act.

And he did have to act, but not like that.

The others in attendance should have walked out, and none did that I know of, so fuck em.

[BlackSkimmer]

3. Yeah, very odd.

Guy has got some issues.

I just had the misfortune to read (in other media) some quotes from his book…

[obamanut2012]

6. Could you send me the link, please?

[pbmus]

4. MachoMan...

[whathehell]

7. His initial reaction..

not his later one, and,, sorry. but you could see her WAS really upset. Not just faking it for her..
But, hey, let's just forget all that, and blame it
on Jada.
.

[speak easy]

8. IMO, laughing at a hurtful joke is more offensive than telling it.

[whathehell]

10. Sometimes things don't "register" right away...

If she actually was hurt at first. I'm guessing his next reaction more than made up for it.

[speak easy]

12. What I am trying to say is

the one person who bears no blame at all is Jada Pinkett Smith.

[uponit7771]

18. Come on, that's a reach. If she would've laughed he would've kept laughing cause he thought ...

... the joke was funny.

[pnwmom]

29. He thought the idea of her as a GI was funny. He doesn't think her being bald is funny --

unlike Chris Rock, apparently.

[whathehell]

49. Lol. Not a "reach" at all, as several here have concurred

with it, and, sorry. no, I don't find the mocking of physical disability
"funny", and neither, It seems, did Smith.

[uponit7771]

50. The number of people "concurring" is not relevant to the FACT that WS laughed at the joke

[whathehell]

53. It is "relevant" and had you seen the

the MANY discussions here in the last couple of days about "the fact" of Smith's laughter and it's possible reasons, you might understand why.
For more information, you might want to go through some of the recent threads, as I'm not going to repeat it all now. I'm done.

[uponit7771]

54. "many" doesn't change reality ONE bit in this context. Fact: WS laughed at Rocks GI Jane Joke ...

... no amount of gas lighting or Argumentum ad populum is going to change that.

[whathehell]

55. Lol, as I said, "I'm done"

Buh bye.

[whathehell]

13. Really?

Okay. .

[speak easy]

14. Yes really.

[whathehell]

16. 'kay

[jcgoldie]

9. laughter can be a defense mechanism

Not defending what he did. I'm just saying the reaction clip here does not necessarily reflect what Will Smith was feeling.

[whathehell]

11. Exactly., and people don't always automatically "tune,in"

to something just said,, especially if they've ?
been laughing at something else.

[uponit7771]

20. This is a reach too

[jcgoldie]

42. No it certainly isn't

Many people laugh initially when they feel uncomfortable or threatened or angry and do not know how to respond.

[uponit7771]

43. No way I'm convinced Smiths laugh was a "nervous" one. Too many people are trying to twist

... reality and convince others he didn't look like ... an others around him ... didn't think the joke was funny.

he did

[jcgoldie]

44. Look I think what he did was ignorant and indefensible

I'm just saying trying to psychoanalyze why he did it with some subplot that he was appeasing his wife because he felt guilty for laughing initially is just pure conjecture.

[kcr]

46. I agree

I say this as a nervous laugher, so I realize it's a thing. That didn't look like nervous laughter.

[uponit7771]

47. +1, here and other places are trying to twist reality to fit a narrative about WS laughing at the...

... joke because its an indictment against the narrative that he was protecting his wife.

He wasn't, he got mad cause he was going to bein the dog house for laughing at a joke he thought was funny but was at her expense.

[Patterson]

15. I think he did what he did lest he catch hell from her narcissistic self.

[oasis]

17. I believe the same thing happened. nt

[uponit7771]

19. K&R, if Jada would've kept laughing WS would've kept laughing cause he thought it was funny

Last edited Tue Mar 29, 2022, 04:47 AM - Edit history (1)

[speak easy]

22. I think Jada was hurt (and rightly so) that he was laughing at a joke that dissed her

in an insensitive way.

[uponit7771]

23. THIS !!!! ☝🏾☝🏾☝🏾 I made this point in another thread that she was mad at HIM for laughing at the

... joke that he thought was funny and then he went caveman to save himself.

It was OBIVOUS Smith thought the joke was funny

Also, how in the world are people ascribing bad intent in an apt comparison between to badass beautiful sheros !!!

If Rock was comparing her to Aunt Esther ... yeah, that's obviously fucked up but even Rock emoted "its a joke about GI Jane !!!"

Yeah, you hit the head on the nail here

[speak easy]

24. That's it: Will was mad that his wife was Mad With Him.

I think you have it right.

[meadowlander]

26. Except he's not comparing JPS to GI Jane because she's a badass as a compliment.

If so, why not compare her to Ripley? Or Sarah Connor? Or Katniss?

Oh yeah, they all have hair. The point of the joke is to draw attention to her baldness, not to compare her to a badass heroine.

And if he was planning to do that on TV, he should have cleared it with her beforehand.

I'm not defending Will Smith hitting him, but I don't think Chris Rock has anything to be proud about in this situation either.

[uponit7771]

27. Wrong, Demi Moore has hair too ... and Ripley cut her hair off in A3 ... I don't understand

... the equation here with the other female actors.

Again, if he was comparing her to Aunt Ester ... yeah, that's fucked up.

He wasn't, it was a comparison to a beuatiful badass shero character that he even emoted to saying "it was a joke about GI Jane" so Rock didn't even get the reason why Smith was upset.

[meadowlander]

30. She was compared to GI Jane, not Demi Moore

and the only reason the "joke" makes sense is that they both have shaved heads.

[uponit7771]

33. Demi Moore played GI Jane in 1997, both the character AND the person were beautiful badass

... sheros in that era

That's a fact not in dispute

[pnwmom]

38. That he and many others were laughing. And untold others in the TV audience.

All thanks to Chris Rock.

[speak easy]

40. Will wrecked what should have been a proud night for African Americans.

Instead of being remembered as the night a black man won Best Actor, it will be remembered as the first time a presenter was assaulted on stage.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

21. Exactly, as did several others...

... around Will Smith who were later "circling the wagons" around him after he physically attacked Chris Rock for the joke.

Jada Smith has also expressed her "embrace" of alopecia online several times, as if she had fully accepted it as a part of her life. So even if Chris Rock knew why she kept her head shaved, it's possible that he thought she wouldn't be terribly hurt by it. He's voice-acted with her on "Madagascar" too, and might've thought they had a strong enough relationship and goodwill that she wouldn't take the joke too seriously.

I feel so bad for Chris Rock. He was physically attacked in front of an audience of actors, and many of those actors added salt to the wound by their encouragement of Will Smith as Chris Rock quietly shuffled away somewhere.

Rock even showed great restraint by not pressing charges, which he had every right to do. And if you've seen the full video, there's a point when Rock appeared tempted to actually roast Will Smith with some hurtful zingers (possibly based in truth like his "open marriage" with Jada) after the second time Smith shouted at him, but he restrained himself that time too. Rock smirked briefly and said something like, "Ooh, I could...", then stopped himself and proceeded with the ceremony.

[uponit7771]

25. +1, "added salt to the wound by their encouragement of Will Smith " OK, this is why I'm pissed to no

... end at the bullshit shown by the privileged in that room ..... to no end.

Then I come on DU to see something similar with people twisting themselves in knots trying to totally ignore the fact or explain why Smith was OBIVOUSLY amused by the joke himself!!

Stern and another comedian are dead on and this is why Weinstein and Cosby get away with OPENLY breaking the law and why republicans defend Trump with all kinds of pretzel logic; they respect him and WILL NOT see wrong in a person they value lest self reflection has to be had.

and

Then there's people who in the industry don't give a shit enough to shout at what's wrong

[Buckeye_Democrat]

32. The fact that Will Smith wasn't told to leave...

... the ceremony, after that incident, wasn't a good look to me.

Even if it was known he'd later win the Best Actor award, it wouldn't be the first time that the winner wasn't there to accept it.

I'm not too surprised by the behavior, though. It was like some guest (outsider) being invited to a family's party who unjustifiably gets assaulted by some drunk uncle. Then the family sticks up for the uncle, perhaps with some of them even joining in with the assault. If cops are called, the guest might then get hauled off to jail based on false testimony that he started it.

EDIT: After seeing that incident, I'd be very leery to host the Academy Awards as a comedian. Except maybe the comedians who are also viewed as a "full family member" among the actors.

[uponit7771]

41. Yep, to your edit this is the reasons they are coming out strong with "we don't condone ...

... violence" because they acted like they DID condone violence by not acting on WS smacking person on live TV.

I wish I knew the female comedians name, but she said the VERY same thing that she wouldn't host on that show because the let people assault the stage actors and do little about it.

[pnwmom]

28. Seriously? You're put this on slow-mo and repeat?

The truth is that he briefly laughed -- at the idea of his wife playing a GI -- and then it sunk in that the GI joke had to do with her baldness. And he stopped laughing.

[uponit7771]

31. "The truth is that he briefly laughed" length of laugh is irrelevant its OBVIOUS Smith thought it wa

... was funny.

No matter what gas lighting people try to apply here Smith thought it was funny and if she would've laughed he would've kept laughing ... PERIOD

and then it sunk in

Will Smith isn't slow, he knew what the joke was

[pnwmom]

34. He thought the idea of her being a GI was funny. He doesn't think her being bald is funny.

Can you really not understand the difference?

For the record, Rock said: "“Jada, I love you. GI Jane 2, can’t wait to see you.”

When I heard "GI Jane," no particular image came to mind. It didn't make me think of Demi Moore or a film that's 25 years old. So I'm not surprised that Smith didn't instantly get the joke either. He was just laughing about the idea of his wife being a GI -- till he saw her expression and it hit him that the joke was about her baldness.

But why are you still trying to justify Chris Rock's mean joke? The National Alopecia Areata says there's nothing funny about the disease, and it's right.

[uponit7771]

35. Then why did Smith laugh?! No seriously, that's the point of the OP and "it sunk in" is gas lighting

.. as if Will Smith is slow.

He's not, he's OBVIOUSLY a smart person with an par absorption rate.

We can see him laugh in timing with the joke!!!

Come on man

[pnwmom]

37. My husband would laugh, with good reason, if someone said I'd make a good GI.

And I wouldn't blame him, because the idea would be humorous -- just as if they'd said I'd make a good sky diver or parachute jumper. No thanks.

Lots of people's spouses might laugh about the idea of their spouse being a soldier, no matter how much they loved them. That doesn't mean they'd laugh if someone made a joke at the expense of their spouse's appearance.

[uponit7771]

39. Soooooo, WS didn't know who GI *JANE* was? Didn't know Demi Moore at that time was a ..

.. ground breaker being one of few white women in Hollywood who wore their hair short in public?

Didn't know the meta of the movie ?!

and

Only "understood" the GI in GI Jane first ?!


K, that's a stretch too


I'll lean towards he knew what Rock was talking about and laughed, WS is my age ... I don't believe he didn't know the context of GI Jane or Demi Moore or the movie.

[LexVegas]

45. Because it was funny. He thought so too. nt

[CrackityJones75]

48. Well she is smiling there too.

[Chakaconcarne]

52. Yep... she doesn't look overly pissed there....

[Arazi]

51. Yup. "When you're famous, they let you do it"

He knew he’d get away with smacking Chris Rock. And he did