Behind the scenes of Will Smith’s slap to Chris Rock on Oscar night! Childhood trauma…
The 94th Academy Awards were marked by the slap of Will Smith, who was awarded the Best Actor Award on the night, to comedian Chris Rock on a live broadcast. So what is behind the slap that shocked millions? The autobiography of the famous actor points to a deep childhood trauma.
An eerie silence filled the Dolby theater as Will Smith’s slap rang out. The famous comedian Chris Rock who got slapped, the audience consisting of Hollywood heavyweights, and the millions on the screen were stunned. In fact, Chris Rock was so shocked that he felt compelled to put it into words:
“Will Smith just slapped me!”
Jada Pinkett Smith, the wife of the famous actress, who has been struggling with a severe ringworm (alopecia) type for a long time, is digging her hair for this reason. Pinkett Smith, who used expressions that she was very sensitive in the statements she made on the subject from time to time, also made a joke about Chris Rock’s reference to GI Jane (the 1997 movie GI Jane starred Demi Moore, her short hair made a lot of noise at that time) by rolling her eyes and openly annoyed. had reacted.
Childhood trauma that triggered the slap
Of course, all this does not legitimize Will Smith’s action, but the famous actor’s action must have a starting point, a trauma that triggered this slap.
Smith took the stage again to receive the Best Actor Award and gave a tearful speech. In defending himself, he said he felt compelled to protect his family:
“I knew how to do as we always do, you have to be able to handle being abused, people talking crazy about you and disrespecting you, and you have to smile and act like everything is okay. But love makes people do crazy things.”
This dramatic defense was of course not widely accepted against his move, but Will Smith’s personal history contains details that suggest he’ll have a hard time picking up the joke.
Witnessed domestic violence throughout his childhood
In his autobiography published in November 2021, Will Smith gave a lengthy account of how he and his three siblings had witnessed domestic violence. His father, William, was constantly abusing his mother, Caroline, and the children were witnessing this. Will Smith explains:
“When I was nine, I saw my father punch my mother in the head so much that she collapsed to the ground. I saw you spit blood. That moment in that bedroom, more than possibly any moment in my life, determined who I was.”
For Smith, it was not only the violence he witnessed but also his own inaction in the face of it that traumatized him:
“Everything I’ve done since then—awards and accolades, spotlight and attention, characters and laughter—contains a subtle apology to my mother for my inactivity that day. For disappointing him in that moment. Because I couldn’t resist my father. Because I’m a coward.”
Mentioning that what people see as Will Smith is a fiction, the famous actor states that he created this character to hide his cowardice and hide himself from the world.
On the brink of murder…
Smith’s parents, who separated during his teenage years, officially divorced in 2000. The famous actor, who maintains a close relationship with his father, said that his hatred flared up again when his father got cancer and had to live in a wheelchair. Smith even thought of killing him while he was taking care of his father:
“As a child, I always told myself that one day I would avenge my mother. I stood at the top of the stairs. I could have pushed him down and easily escaped. Thank God we are judged by our actions, not by our trauma-induced suffocation.”
The 53-year-old actress is famous for being smiling and friendly; he was even criticized for showing “too clean” in his rap career. Will Smith had his burst of fame with the TV series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, in which he played a quarrelsome teenager who was sent to live with his wealthy uncle at the age of 22.
At the pinnacle of Hollywood for 30 years, nominated for Oscars in 2002 (Ali) and 2007 (Don’t Lose Hope), and finally winning the Best Actor Award in his third nomination in 2022, Will Smith stars in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ He had been arrested for allegedly assaulting music producer William Hendricks just before the war, but was later released when the charges were dropped.
Chris Rock targeted the couple again In 2016
However, Chris Rock also made a joke about the stance of Pinkett Smith, who boycotted Will Smith’s failure to be nominated for an Oscar for his performance in Concussion in 2016. In Bafta, which took place two weeks ago, actor and comedian Rebel Wilson, who hosted the night, referred to the “open relationship” preference expressed by the Smith couple in an interview in 2005, saying that Smith’s best performance last year was getting along with all of her husband’s boyfriends. ” he had said.
Speaking after the ceremony, Will Smith said, “There was never cheating in our marriage. “Jada and I talk about everything and we never surprised each other.”
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