While violence generally shouldn’t get a pass, there’s more to what happened last night, and the way we’re talking about it today is missing nuance
Photo: ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images It’s all anyone can talk about: The Slap. Some have sided with Will Smith, some are calling for his arrest, and some people have even called for the Academy to take back his Oscar for Best Actor.
“He could have killed him,” insisted director Judd Apatow in a series of since-deleted tweets shared by Variety editor-at-large Kate Aurthur. “That’s pure out-of-control rage and violence … He lost his mind,” he continued. . Most of the discourse online is taking away from Smith’s Best Actor win and framing him as a character he’s never played: a villain. This narrative is not new for Black men, and it matters that white, male-dominated Hollywood and half the Twittersphere is imposing it on Smith. Historically, Black people have always had to soften themselves to make white audiences feel comfortable. In particular, Smith has always portrayed himself as an easy-going, funny guy from West Philadelphia.
Will and Jada Pinkett Smith have been public about many things: Their open marriage, Jada’s affair, how they choose to raise their children. Yes, being a celebrity opens you up to public scrutiny. But everyone has a breaking point, and this may have been Smith’s. Even before the slap, it was an emotionally charged night where Smith was anticipating his first Oscar win. A win that would make him only the fifth Black man ever to win the Best Actor award.
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