Situation: Oscars last night, Will Smith got up on stage to slap Chris Rock in the face.

MAYHEM BETWEEN CHRIS ROCK AND WILL SMITH AT THE #Oscars pic.twitter.com/265hGbsEDg
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) March 28, 2022

Background (condensed):

Will Smith is married to Jada Pinkett.  Jada has alopecia, and shaved her head because of it.  During the ceremony Chris Rock makes a joke about Jada being in "G.I. Jane 2".  Will is seen at first lightly laughing at the joke, but Jada is none too pleased.  Moments later, the camera cuts to Rock, who is now perceiving Will Smith get on the stage walking towards him, "says uh, oh Richard [reference to Smith's character King Richard for which he was nominated for the award being presented].  He slaps him once across the face, and then says twice "Keep my wife's name out your F*&*$*** Mouth".  Rock makes a joke about this being "the greatest night in television".  The Oscars have now shown what appears to be their very first on camera assault

Will Smith would later come back up to the podium to receive an award for his performance in King Richard, and makes a comment that that character fiercely defended his family.

At first, the incident looked staged.  Both men involved seemed to reference Will Smith's character at some point, and Rock is known to say (even if not do) outlandish things.  Nobody in the audience seemed to expect or understand what was happening.  What gave me pause and leads me to believe the incident was Smith's reactions: they seemed genuine and not pre-rehearsed.  Him laughing at the joke at first and only getting upset once he saw his wife offended seemingly-tracks.  I know I personally am way more willing to defend my wife's feelings than my own.  I might overcompensate if I felt I was initially involved in her getting offended.  Smith not just saying "Keep my wife's name out your [effing] Mouth" but repeating it makes me think it was spur of the moment.  One would think he would say something a little more "cool" if it was staged.

So yeah, I think it wasnt staged but would love to hear some other takes.  I personally am a little scared of the lack of backlash from people who believe this to be real.  Imho, violence is never justified as a response to ridicule, outside a few, very narrow exceptions (racial slurs, threats of violence, etc.).  None of those exceptions applied here.  Jada has allopecia, not cancer.  She is not an invalid and is in the public limelight and is perfectly capable of defending herself.  Some people on twitter have defended smith saying he stood up for a family member being ridiculed by a disease.  Thats all well and good, but the idea that any form of violence is acceptable for "woke" reasons doesnt sit with me.  That comedy, which is already seeing its acceptable subject matter shrink by the minute, seems to now invite not just criticism, but actual violence, is a disturbing trend.

Ive been a fan of Will's since watching Fresh Prince reruns and the MIB movie as a kid, and havent really been a fan of Chris', ever.  But if he acts like this behavior was both genuine and acceptable, idk if I can be in the future.