Hollywood Turns on Will Smith After Chris Rock Slap: ‘The Excuses He Made Were Bulls**t’

Robyn Beck/Getty Images
Robyn Beck/Getty Images
Alana Mastrangelo

Hollywood turned on actor Will Smith after he slapped Oscars presenter Chris Rock over a joke the comedian made about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

Rock had made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair loss — which she has recently opened up about as a result of her struggle with alopecia — stating, “Jada, I love ya. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see ya.”

The audience reacted with laughter, but then suddenly, Smith got up, marched onto the stage, and smacked Rock, leaving viewers stunned as the actor walked back to his seat, where then twice proclaimed, “Keep my wife’s name out your fucking mouth.”

***LANGUAGE WARNING***:

Later, when Smith took the stage again — this time, to give his acceptance speech after winning Best Actor for his performance as Venus and Serena Williams’ father Richard Williams in King Richard — the actor took a moment to “apologize to the Academy,” and to “all my fellow nominees.”

Not everyone in Hollywood, however, was pleased with Smith, who did not mention Rock in his in his apology.

“Will Smith owes Chris Rock a huge apology,” actor Rob Reiner reacted. “There is no excuse for what he did. He’s lucky Chris is not filing assault charges. The excuses he made tonight were bullshit.”

Actress Lea Thompson noted that she doesn’t “love how people hide behind god and religion when they know they screwed up,” likely referring to the part of Smith’s acceptance speech when she mentioned God, and how he is being “called on” to “love people, and to protect people.”

“I want to be a vessel for love,” Smith added in his acceptance speech, to which comedian Mike Birbiglia reacted by tweeting, “People have a funny way of trying to be a vessel of love.”

Shameless star Shanola Hampton proclaimed, “There is NEVER a justification for VIOLENCE! Never, ever, ever!!”

Actress Mia Farrow commented, “It was just a joke. Jokes are what Chris Rock does. Always has been edgy. This was a mild joke from him. and I love GI Jane.”

“What I saw was one of Hollywood’s most powerful movie stars stalk onto a stage to strike a comedian,” she added. “Anyone who is ok with that has probably never been hit by a powerful man.”

Meanwhile, Rosie O’Donnell referred to the moment as a display of “toxic masculinity.”

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.

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