When Will Smith slapped Chris Rock for a joke at the Oscars, other comedians felt a pang.
“I know Chris and I know what it’s like to be on stage in front of an audience that doesn’t like your material,” said comedian Judy Gold. “But being physically attacked is another matter. It felt like every comedian got a slap in the face. It really felt that way.”
Smith’s actions come at a stressful time for comedy. As humor continues to push the boundaries (recall George Carlin’s 1972 monologue on seven of the so-called “dirty words” banned from television), comedians say they’ve felt more opposition from the public and society . Great comedian Dave Chappelle faced criticism last year for what some saw as anti-transgender humor on his Netflix special The Closer. Kathy Griffin’s career derailed in 2017 when she was photographed with a model of former President Donald Trump’s head.
Some comedians warned of possible side effects from Smith’s behavior and its consequences.
“No one came up to Chris Rock and said, ‘Are you okay?'” Sheryl Underwood, co-host of The Talk, said on Tuesday’s show. “I’m going to say this as a comedian: now I’m scared to go on stage because on my third show, when everyone’s drunk and they don’t like my joke, are they now going to think they can get up and hit me? There has to be faster accountability.”
Griffin tweeted, “Now we all have to start thinking about who the next Will Smith wants to be in comedy clubs and theaters.”
“What’s the worst crime here?” said veteran comedian Gilbert Gottfried in an interview. “The physical attack on Chris Rock or the Chris Rock joke? That’s it, plain and simple. He was joking.”
Dean Obeidallah, a lawyer and stand-up comedian who hosts a show on the SiriusXM-Progress channel, said there’s never “a place for a violent response to a joke,” but he doubts there are Smiths imitators will give behavior. In all his years in comedy clubs he has seen screams and screams and once a person throwing a glass at someone. But never a slap or a punch.
“If someone hits a comedian, they will be prosecuted. They don’t have the privilege that Will Smith has,” Obeidallah said.
Gold said she was confronted but never hit, and she knows other female comedians have faced difficult circumstances. “People went on stage, people threw things,” he said.
The picture is different for comedian-actress Yamaneika Saunders, too, but that has nothing to do with what she called Smith’s disturbing behavior and a sad day for “two beloved black men in the entertainment industry.”
“I’m a black woman in comedy,” Saunders said. “I’m constantly being threatened … by a man who doesn’t like something (phrase) I’ve said about being a woman, a white man who doesn’t like something (phrase) I’ve said about being black .”
Offensive humor is not new at celebrity ceremonies, which turn to comedians to liven up dull events. Ricky Gervais made celebrity gossip at back-to-back Golden Globes and audiences smiled or grimaced and accepted. Most famous target: Trump at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, where he sat undaunted during lengthy quips from then-President Barack Obama.
Rock wasn’t the first to crack a joke about Smith or his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, at Sunday’s Oscars. Ceremony co-host Regina Hall made what appeared to be a veiled joke about their marriage by unsuccessfully attempting to lure Smith into a skit.
Rock’s prank was aimed at Pinkett Smith. “Jada, I love you. ‘GI Jane 2, I can’t wait,'” the comedian said of the actress, whose shaved head resembled that of Demi Moore in the 1997 film GI Jane. It’s not known if Rock knew Pinkett Smith had alopecia, an autoimmune condition that can cause hair loss. But Smith responded with the smack and a furious warning, “Put my wife’s name out of your (power)mouth!”
Smith later tearfully accepted the Best Actor Oscar for “King Richard” with a somewhat apologetic speech and a standing ovation from the crowd at the Dolby Theater. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has since condemned the attack and said it will look into the matter.
Whatever the outcome, his actions indelibly tarnished the ceremony and sparked discussions about violence, toxic masculinity, and the perks of fame. Smith, who conspicuously omitted Rock from his speech on Sunday, apologized to the comedian and issued a statement the next day condemning “violence in all its forms.”
Pinkett Smith’s first public statement came on Instagram: “This is a healing time and that’s what I’m here for.” Rock briefly addressed the slap on a comedy show in Boston on Wednesday, saying he was still “processing.” , what’s happened”. He seemed to get emotional as he received several standing ovations.
Whatever attacks comedians may receive on stage, verbally or physically, they shouldn’t censor themselves to avoid it, and they won’t, Obeidallah said: “They shouldn’t change, and there’s nothing here which tells me they’re going to change.” .
They can’t because they see their role in providing more than just laughs.
“We are the ones telling the truth. We speak truth to those in power,” said Gold, author of the 2020 book Yes, I Can Say That: When They Come for the Comedians, We Are All in Trouble. (Yes, I can say that: if they bring in comedians, we’re all in trouble.)
Gottfried quoted one of Carlin’s favorite lines: “It is the comedian’s duty to find out where the line is drawn and to consciously cross it.” And he couldn’t resist cracking a joke.
“If Will Smith is reading this, my God, please don’t come to my shows,” he said.