• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Writer reveals savage reason why Chris Rock deserved to be slapped by Will Smith

Home> Entertainment

Updated 21:44 8 Mar 2023 GMTPublished 20:13 8 Mar 2023 GMT

Writer reveals savage reason why Chris Rock deserved to be slapped by Will Smith

She reckons he deserves to be held accountable for his jokes about black women.

Rachel Lang

Rachel Lang

A writer has sensationally claimed on live TV that Chris Rock deserved to be slapped by Will Smith at the Oscars, penning an essay explaining why only one day after the comedian dropped his live Netflix special.

The Root senior writer Candace McDuffie published an essay on Sunday entitled Chris Rock Still Deserved to be Slapped by Will Smith, less than 24 hours after his special that dealt with the now infamous moment at the 2022 Academy Awards.

She then doubled down on her views on CNN to a rather taken aback host Don Lemon.

Advert

"It's not so much about being slapped as it's about accountability, right,' she told Lemon.

"He has made black women specifically the butt of his jokes for years and he's finally being held accountable.

"So I feel this kind of sets the precedent going forward that people will be more careful about how they treat black women."

Lemon warned the writer that people may put an intense focus on things that she says, before asking: "Is Candace McDuffie condoning violence, saying that Will Smith should have slapped Chris Rock?"

She said in the 'literal sense' her words seemed a 'bit much'.

Advert

In the words of Brooklyn 99's Jake Peralta: Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool Cool. No doubt.

In her piece for The Root, she elaborated.

"It’s not about condoning violence, but words—especially ones that make black women the punchline—should have consequences," she wrote.

REUTERS/Alamy.

She continued on CNN: "Honestly, sitting here, you know, calling Jada out of her name, making fun of her hair condition, talking about her alopecia, words can be violent as well.

"And as we see black girls and women, we suffer abuse at higher rates in this country, so continuing to humiliate us only perpetuates this."

Advert

She added: "I think it speaks to a larger American pattern of using marginalised people as comedic fodder."

Despite previously noting her own words were 'a bit much', she went on to tell Lemon: "It can also lead to violence being incited. It can lead to [black women] being not seen as human.

"Words in comedy have larger consequences as we've seen in recent years."

She also claimed the special by Rock, 58, wasn't comedy at all, but thinly masked pain.

CNN

Advert

And we can sort of see why as everyone in the auditorium, as well as those watching at home, were left gobsmacked after what happened during the glitzy ceremony in 2022.

Rock was set to read the nominees for the next award when he made a little jab at Smith's wife Jada, suggesting she looked like 'GI Jane'.

Smith clearly didn't take kindly to the joke so he walked onto the stage and shockingly slapped Rock before calmly walking back to his seat.

"Will Smith just smacked the s**t out of me," Rock said to everyone, seemingly rattled by the confrontation.

Although Smith initially appeared amused, he then yelled back: "Keep my wife's name out your f**king mouth."

Advert

Chris awkwardly attempted to segue into the next segment, but not before saying: "That was the greatest night in the history of television."

Featured Image Credit: REUTERS/Alamy.

Topics: Will Smith, Chris Rock, Oscars, Celebrity

Rachel Lang
Rachel Lang

Rachel Lang is a Digital Journalist at LADbible. During her career, she has interviewed Aussie PM Malcolm Turnbull in the lead up to the 2016 federal election, ran an editorial campaign on the war in Yemen, and reported on homelessness in the lead-up to Harry and Meghan’s wedding in Windsor. She also once wrote a yarn on the cheese and wine version of Fyre Festival.

X

@rlangjournalist

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

an hour ago
2 hours ago
  • an hour ago

    What happened to Michael Mosley when he died in Greece as his final TV show airs

    The show aired its first episode last night, the final he filmed before his death

    Entertainment
  • an hour ago

    Shocking Paddy Power advert was banned after Oscar Pistorius murder trial joke

    More than 130,000 people signed a petition demanding for the ad to be taken down

    Entertainment
  • 2 hours ago

    Alarming amount of money Jordan Belfort really made from penny stocks as Wolf of Wall Street added to Netflix

    He made a huge amount from penny stocks over the years

    Entertainment
  • 2 hours ago

    Expert explains what the 'Gen-Z' stare really is and why it means generation is doomed

    The Gen-Z stare could be a 'symptom of something deeper’, according to experts

    Entertainment
  • Fans finally worked out meaning behind why Will Smith’s kids are called Jaden and Willow
  • What will happen if Will Smith is nominated for an Oscar after being banned for 10 years
  • Amy Schumer Says She Is 'Traumatised' After Will Smith Slapped Chris Rock At The Oscars
  • Will Smith responds after being accused of being involved in Diddy's 'freak off' parties