The Will Smith-Chris Rock incident from Sunday night’s Oscars brings a slew of questions. 

To the public eye, this situation could easily be seen as a publicity stunt. When Rock told his joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith seemed initially amused enough by it that he was laughing. For Smith to then go on stage and smack Rock across the face seems like the whole thing could have been planned. 

But if this was the case, the stunt definitely didn’t land well, as the audience went silent. 

If it was not a publicity stunt, then was Smith’s response justifiable? Yes, he did react that way as in defense of his wife, but that doesn’t make it socially acceptable. During the Oscars, hosts always make jokes about the celebrities in the audience, and some comments that might be seen as hurtful have always been made. Smith’s reaction, knowing that, was uncalled for. 

On the other hand, Rock’s joke was a low blow if he knew about Pinkett Smith having alopecia. 

Afterward, Smith won an Oscar and tried to make a public apology while in tears. But he did not say anything in regards to Rock and seemed to be trying to excuse his own actions. 

“Love makes you do crazy things,” Smith said. 

Now there is talk about whether Smith will have his Oscar taken from him as a consequence of his actions. 

Personally, I think the entire situation looks like a hoax. If it is real, Rock was deserving of getting smacked for making a hurtful comment about Pinkett Smith because of the condition that she suffers from. The comment was uncalled for considering she only recently made the decision to go with a bald look due to her alopecia.