Photo courtesy of The Guardian
April 5, 2022
I’m sure you all know about this already, but if you don’t, do you listen to anything around you? Anyway…Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars on March 27th, 2022. At first, I didn’t think it was real, but Smith is facing a lot of backlash over the situation. For those who don’t know the full story, Rock was presenting the Award for Best Documentary when he made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head. In the video, Smith is seen laughing at first, then looks over at his wife, who expresses her annoyance. Next thing you know, Smith is walking up to Rock and slaps him across the face. He then returns to his seat and proceeds to yell, “Keep my wife’s name out your f****** mouth.” The reason Jada Pinkett Smith was so offended is because she has struggled with a hair loss condition called alopecia. Recently, she shaved her head due to the constant loss of hair. In my opinion, the joke was not appropriate for Rock to make, especially with the CROWN Act very relevant. According to Wikipedia, “The CROWN Act is a California law which prohibits discrimination based on hair style and hair texture by extending protection under the FEHA and the California Education Code.” This law shouldn’t even be a thing that exists because there should be no discrimination against how a person wears their hair.
