The Reel Rejects - MOVIE NEWS: Will Smith APOLOGIZES To Chris Rock For Oscar Slap & His Actions - Reaction & Thoughts

Episode Date: April 5, 2022

The Monday after the 94th Academy Awards saw Will Smith release a statement regarding his behavior & an apology to Chris Rock, among others. Greg & John share their two cents on the developing situation... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-reel-rejects/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Firestone Complete AutoCare's great big tire cell is here, and it's time to get in on some serious savings. Get up to $280 off when you buy four eligible bridge stone or firestone tires. Firestone Complete AutoCare. Book now at Firestone Auto.com. Conditions applies. These store for details. I'm 32. Juggling family, working full-time and earning a bachelor's degree. At University of Phoenix, I earn career-relevant skills with every five-week course. Skills I can use now, not just after graduation. Earn skills weeks, not yours. Visit phoenix.edu. What's going on there? My hat is backwards. It's backwards today, just like the world and the Oscars. It's symbolic. What's going on, Reject Nation? Greg, join with John today. We are going to talk a little bit more about this whole Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars situation. It's been the talk of the town. We've been following it quite a bit, and we weren't planning on really doing a follow-up, but Will Smith issued an apology that we haven't read yet, but I'm like, well, we got to check this out.

Didn't happen last night. So what's he got to say today? What's he got to say today? We all want to know what he has to say because so much has been coming out that I've been getting nonstop messages about Chris Rock apparently refusing to proceed with an investigation with the LAPD

into this, suppressing charges. There was a lot of talk about maybe Will Smith potentially having to give back his Oscar. Variety did an article today talking about how the Oscars have launched a formal review into the whole situation. They have, of course, done their mandatory PR situation. We condemn violence on all accounts.

We condemn it. Let's look at them the Oscar. We condemn it. During the show when it's actually happening because we can't afford to lose any more time than we're already behind. These are good ratings too. These are good ratings. More people do it in than ever. As Variety wasn't covering any know, they were speaking about how there's going to be some types of disciplinary action or sanction perhaps, but it's unlikely that he would have to give back his Oscar.

There's a lot of people who they've said it might have to give back their Oscar and they just haven't. a few names come to mind right away apparently will smith did actually issue an apology and so we wanted to kind of react to it in real time and discuss it let's face if you go online there are so many different camps here a lot who want to explore the gray area of the situation and there's a lot who are just flat out team chris rock or team will smith on the situation you get both sides of the argument this is stirred quite the debate so you can check out my video that i did yesterday but let's go through this together man so will smith says aha aha Big Willie Stunt!

Okay, let's get a little bit serious here. He says, Violence in all of its form is poisonous and destructive. My behavior at last night's Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are part of the job, but a joke about Jada's medical condition was too much for me to bear, and I reacted emotionally. Yeah, I mean, I'll go into it.

I was talking with some other YouTubers about it today in this little group chat, and I'm going to share some of that with you guys. But he goes on to say, I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I would do it again. No, I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.

And there's a second page here. John, you want to read it? Absolutely. I would also like to apologize to the Academy, the producers of the show, all the attendees and everyone watching around the world. I would like to apologize to the Williams family and my King Richard family. I deeply regret that my behavior has stained what has been an otherwise gorgeous journey for all of us. I am a work in progress. Sincerely, Will.

All right, he issued an apology to Chris Rock directly. Yeah. Because he did issue an apology during his speech to the Academy, to his nominees, you know, pretty much for everyone there. Except for Chris Rock. Yes. One glaring omission. And I'm sure with the Oscar officially launching a review, he has to say something. He just got to the point where he has to say something.

I was talking with some friends earlier today. And I was like, if you boil it down to the most basic thing that I think happened, the guy is always under a lot of pressure. He just reached boiling point. He reached tipping point. Sure, when he like saw, I talked a lot about it in the video, but the most basic version is that they did laugh at the jokes and like it was a polite laugh. Like, it's not a funny joke.

I don't even mean like, it's not funny because it's offensive. and like it's just not it was it wasn't just a funny joke the jokes outdated it's stupid it's a low-hanging fruit of a stupid joke all right and then it's offensive in the fact of how you know it's it's making fun of her medical condition if that is indeed what chris rock was actually doing you know when he saw jada's reaction how hurt and bothered she was by it feeling the need to publicly defend her i think he just reached a tipping point and lost perspective on the whole situation and just reacted with going up there and hitting the guy do i believe that he could have still expressed his anger sure do i believe that he could have just not reacted with a smile and all that yeah do i think he should

have gone up there and hit him a lot are saying you did a right thing well he should have done you stood up for your woman sure if you if you feel that i'm not going to fight with you on it i don't think he should have done that and clearly he's apologetic about it for a reason i don't consider it a thing of him backing down necessarily i think that he knows that that wasn't the smart wisest professional thing for him to have done although the action of standing up for your woman's a pretty hot thing to do. I can't deny that. It's a pretty sexy thing to do, you know. Definitely earned points with a good amount of people from just, yeah, being willing to do that on a national stage. I mean, you know, part of it is, I wonder, too, he's right in front with all

the cameras and he's got to know, oh, dang, they probably caught every moment of this. I got to fix this now. But yeah, I mean, you know, for some people, that is what should happen more often. The thing, too, that I was thinking about from his perspective, you know, when you're sitting there, he's at the front row. The only thing separating him and the present. is a small flight of stairs as opposed to like having people in front of you he looks over his wife gets a joke made at her he hears a whole auditorium of people laughing pretty much you can interpret that as they're laughing at her i need to defend her so he reacted emotionally as he admits here what i'm saying is i'm not out of the realm here of like oh i can't believe he did it like i

just don't see where it comes i really think he reached tipping point especially after the amount of public defending and spotlight and scrutiny, the Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith relationship has just consistently had and just seems to get bigger and bigger all the time. In my mind, I'm thinking, you should just wait until the after party to hit him if you really want to. I mean, that's what people forget. Like, people that happens all the time. Some shitty cell phone footage. Yeah, you know, if you got a beef with it with a guy you must know pretty well, then yeah, save it for a place where, you know, rowdiness might be a little. little bit more. It's never in the decorum to just walk up and slap somebody, I guess,

but it's a lot more understandable at a party environment than live on stage while you're both at work and at a mutual celebration party of sorts. Yeah. Like, there's way more to it than just the two of you at an event like that. And it seems like this is the kind of thing that could negatively affect way more people than just Will Smith, Chris Rock, and Jada Pinkett, you know, in an environment like that on a national stage. You know, it could very much embolden the wrong people. The event's not just about them, you know, and it became all about this when there's a lot who really wanted to be celebrated and deserved to be celebrated as well. I feel like the apology is needed to be issued.

To me, I'm like, there's a lot of like gray area. I'm in that camp. I'm in the gray area camp on a lot of this. If you watch the other video, I really dive into it. One thing I forgot I mentioned, I thought it was pretty baller how Chris Rock managed to handle that situation. I thought the way he handled it getting hit, did a good job on just standing there and he knew how to transition. In a way, train rolling and didn't really even bat an eye. I mean, that's the thing you got to credit Chris Rock with is that sort of unflappable, like, hey, the most unexpected thing just happened, and I'm just going to keep gritting about it and keep the show rolling.

One thing, too, is that Will Smith and Chris Rock, they have history. They've been at least photographed publicly together, seeming like they're friends. And if you pay attention to their lives of what they've expressed about their upbringings and their backgrounds, both of these dudes are two tough-ass mofos. They're both tough. As much as Chris Rock is like, Mr. Funny Guy and often can be self-deprecating and stuff, he's a tough dude as well, you know? It is just an interesting conflict that occurred, and I think this apology is something that is very much necessary.

And at the end of the day, there are some people who are definitely going to be out there saying, oh, Will, why'd you back down? I don't think that's the case. I don't. I feel like he absolutely had every right to defend his wife's integrity, and he had every right, he had every right to defend her. Maybe he shouldn't have gone up on stage and hit Chris. Chris Rock, but he's owning up upon his own reflection, too, at least with his words.

That was not the right thing for him to have done, and he apologizes to Chris Rock directly about it. So we have to just move forward with that, and then we form our own opinions. If you had an issue with Will Smith doing that, if you can accept his apology or not, that's up to you. I say do it. Say force your emotions. Give him a pass. Come on. Who cares? Who cares?

It was entertaining. Let it happen again. Next year we'll get everyone to slap Chris Rock. Big line. It'll be like that airplane bit. Yeah, it was perfect. It'll be another awkward routine. But anyway, guys, what do you think about Will Smith's apology?

I would have liked to have it been a video instead of just one of these, like, text forms because I think a lot of communication comes down to body language and tone to, you know, register sincerity as much as possible. However, the most we can do is just take it as sincere since he's issuing it on his own personal social media accounts. All right. We'll talk to you guys soon.

Thank you.