Will Smith: Oscar high to reputational low?

Finally, and perhaps most pressing of all, what chance now of a Jazzy Jeff And The Fresh Prince Anniversary Tour or a Wild Wild West sequel? Sorry, did you think I was talking about Putin?

The Will Smith Scandal or The Slap That Was Heard Around The World (or, if it was an episode of Friends, The One Where A Joke Falls Flat And Someone Gets Lamped On Stage At The Oscars) raises so many questions about so many issues, it’s hard to know where to begin.

Male violence, toxic masculinity, the pressure on black role models, dubious humour (hello Jimmy Carr!), hair loss (more on that below), A-list behaviour – all are gathered into its not-so-welcoming arms.

On the other hand, it’s hard to know whether to begin at all. I can guarantee that virtually nobody in Scotland who woke up on Monday morning to the news of the onstage altercation between Will Smith and comedian Chris Rock had (a) watched the Oscars (b) watched King Richard, the film for which Will Smith was nominated or (c) been aware that Smith’s actress wife Jada Pinkett Smith even suffered from alopecia, a hair loss condition which appeared to be the butt of joke by Mr Rock.

Archaic gag

BUT if they could say “Hell yeah” to all of the above, I’ll double down and bet (d) they haven’t seen or can’t remember GI Jane, the film referred to by Mr Rock in his gag about Pinkett Smith’s hairdo, so (e) wouldn’t have got the joke anyway.

Am I going too fast? Briefly, then, so everyone’s on the same page: GI Jane stars a shaven-headed Demi Moore. Pinkett Smith, on account of said alopecia, has shaved her head. Rock, addressing his comments to Mrs Smith from the stage, says something along the lines of “Can’t wait for GI Jane Two, Jada”.

Husband Will, cheeky rapper turned Hollywood A-lister, laughs initially but then seems to take offence and climbs out of the audience to slap Rock. Hard. Cue mayhem and whatever noise the internet makes when it breaks.

But begin we must so let’s start with the first person we should be concerned for, Mr Rock. After all, it was he who suffered what was essentially a workplace assault, one broadcast live to millions and in front of an audience boasting pretty much everyone in Hollywood who matters. Plus the actors they manage.

Still ‘processing’ slap

MR Rock has said little since although at a show in Boston on Wednesday he told audience members he was still “processing” what had happened, probably therapist speak for something to do with agents and lawyers (more than one person has suggested he sue for damages and helpfully suggested a sum of $200 million).

Either way, I’m pretty certain “processing” won’t have involved coming on stage to Jazzy Jeff And The Fresh Prince’s toe-tapper Girls Ain’t Nothing But Trouble, or Boom! Shake the Room from their 1993 album Code Red. But I wasn’t there so I can’t be absolutely certain.

I don’t know either if Mr Rock knew about Ms Pinkett Smith’s alopecia. If he didn’t, she was an unfortunate target for his humour. If he did, the gag is verging on the indefensible. Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt.

It’s not as if it was scripted, anyway. Mr Rock was only on stage to present the award for Best Documentary to Summer Of Soul director Ahmir Thompson, better known as rapper Questlove from The Roots. His win was as important in its way as Smith’s a few minutes later, but what happened beforehand totally overshadowed it.

Ditto what should have been the biggest story of the night, the significant gains made by women. Jane Campion won for The Power Of The Dog and became only the third woman to take home an Academy Award for Best Director. Sian Heder won Best Adapted Screenplay for Coda while the film itself won Best Picture. Billie Eilish picked up Best Original Song, and Ariana DeBose became the first queer woman of colour to win Best Supporting actress for her performance in West Side Story.

Having a serious word

INSTEAD of celebrating all that (and Smith’s win, don’t forget) the headlines were about male-on-male violence. “What a thing to wake up to,” tweeted Booker Prize-winning author Bernardine Evaristo on Monday. “Only the fifth black man in nearly 100 years to win an Oscar for male lead, and the first in 16 years, resorts to violence instead of utilising the power of words to slay Chris Rock.” For the record, Smith did also resort to the power of words – he twice bellowed “Keep my wife’s name out of your ******* mouth” after retaking his seat.

The second person we should have sympathy for, of course, is Jada Pinkett Smith herself.

She has spoken in the past about her alopecia, which she revealed in 2018, and her regular posts about it on social media have been widely acclaimed for raising awareness of what is a distressing condition. In December, she posted a video of her newly-shaven head. “At this point I can only laugh,” she said, adding: “Me and this alopecia are going to be friends.” But now the whole world knows. Literally. That really is hard to process.

A stand-up guy?

AND the third person? Well, there isn’t really anybody else to feel sorry for unless you want to try to come to Will Smith’s defence. Some did, pointing to the fact that he was simply standing up for his wife. A plausible excuse for what happened? No. Smith admitted as much when he finally released a statement on Friday. “My actions at the 94th Academy Awards presentation were shocking, painful, and inexcusable,” it read. “The list of those I have hurt is long and includes Chris, his family, many of my dear friends and loved ones, all those in attendance, and global audiences at home.”

So, what’s next for Will Smith, an actor whose career has been built on his talent for inhabiting roles in serious films – he has three Oscar nominations and one win – and for the on-screen amiability he brings to the less serious ones, such as the Men In Black franchise? What about the threat of sanctions, expulsions and investigations? That too has been addressed, at least to an extent, because in tandem with Friday’s statement, Mr Smith announced that he was resigning from the Oscars Academy. So no four figure goodie bag at next year’s awards. Big deal.

Arresting performance

JIM Carrey has said Smith should have been arrested and, to be fair, he has a point. Indeed, Oscars producer Will Packer has revealed that police officers were willing to undertake the collar and charge him with battery. It’s unlikely to happen retrospectively, if only because Mr Rock is unlikely to press charges.

But despite the statement Will Smith still has questions to answer – lots of them – and the damage to his reputation could be immense.

Here’s a weird thing though: 15 million people watched the Oscars, but only 66 complained about the assault to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), America’s version of Ofcom. To put that in perspective, the FCC received 1,300 complaints in 2020 about the Superbowl half-time performance by Shakira and Jennifer Lopez. Maybe America just doesn’t care that much – or not as much as it pretends to.

Will Smith will hope that’s the case. Otherwise that Jazzy Jeff And The Fresh Prince Anniversary Tour won’t look like such a dumb idea.