Will Smith’s decision to slap Chris Rock was really a reflection of broader societal trends, experts explain.
Welcome back to “Forgotten Fact-Checks,” a weekly column produced by National Review’s News Desk. This week, we recap reactions to the assault at the Oscars, call out Democrats’ hypocrisy on the Supreme Court, and hit more media misses.
Oscars Mayhem Provokes (Awful) Hot Takes
Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage at the Oscars on Sunday in a fit of rage after Rock told a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Rock said, “Jada, I love you. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait,” apparently referring to her short hair. Pinkett Smith suffers from the hair-loss disease alopecia.
The Full Uncensored video of Will Smith’s altercation with Chris Rock at the #Oscars pic.twitter.com/cGQ3plSEiz
— Movies (@moreoffilms) March 28, 2022
The melee, which included an expletive-filled threat from Smith, was only the beginning of the cultural low point, with a flood of bad hot takes on the incident pouring in after the award show.
For radio host Howard Stern, the chaos somehow showed that Smith and former President Donald Trump are “the same guy.”
“He opened hand with a lot of force, smacks him right in the mouth on TV,” Stern said on his SiriusXM show on Monday, describing the incident. “Now the first thing I said to myself was ‘what the fuck is going on, is this a bit?’ because where is security? This is a live television event!”
“Not one person came out, because he’s Will Smith, this is how Trump gets away with shit. Will Smith and Trump are the same guy. He decided he’s going to take matters into his own hands. At a time when the world is at war. Bad timing, man. Calm your fucking ass down,” Stern added.
However, for his co-host, Robin Quivers, “it shows where we are as human beings; you can’t even say something in a room without a war breaking out.”
CNN’s Asha Rangappa drew a similar conclusion to Stern:
So did like anyone walk out after that happened??? Or are we getting an independent psychological case study on how Trump got normalized?
— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) March 28, 2022
Lincoln Project co-founder Steve Schmidt took the wild comparisons one step further, suggesting that the incident shows “how Putin can successfully tell his people that he sent the Russian Army to Ukraine, a nation with a Jewish President whose family was wiped out in the Holocaust to fight Nazis.”
“Did you stand up and cheer when a movie star worth hundreds of millions of dollars assaulted a comic on national television and then gave a speech where he talked about being a ‘vessel for love’? If you did and you think you are better than the school teacher at a MAGA event or the retiree in the villages watching Tucker,” he tweeted.
Meanwhile, New York State Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou, a Democrat, was panned on Twitter for rewriting the definition of “violence” in response to the incident.
It is violence to mock someone’s health condition and vulnerability.
It is violence to physically assault someone.
It is violence to not take responsibility for violent actions.
It is violence to allow and excuse violence.
It is violence to call for violence.
— Yuh-Line Niou (@yuhline) March 28, 2022
Members of the progressive “Squad” in Congress also reportedly jumped into the fray before ultimately deleting their Twitter hot takes.
Representative Ayanna Pressley tweeted and deleted, “#Alopecia nation stand up! Thank you #WillSmith Shout out to all the husbands who defend their wives living with alopecia in the face of daily ignorance & insults.”
Just-deleted tweet from Rep. Ayanna Pressley #mapoli #Oscars pic.twitter.com/gGFlStTQ3D
— Grace Panetta (@grace_panetta) March 28, 2022
Representative Jamaal Bowman wrote, “Teachable Moment: Don’t joke about a Black Woman’s hair.” Though a source told journalist Ben Jacobs that the tweet was sent by the congressman’s staff and was drafted “under the assumption that the assault was fake/scripted.”
Jamaal Bowman also briefly tweeted about Will Smith assaulting Chris Rock before deleting it pic.twitter.com/KLKXbI4o9E
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) March 28, 2022
Still, others in Congress had more appropriate reactions to the scuffle. Representative Ritchie Torres (D., N.Y.) wrote, “I found Chris Rock’s joke to be distasteful and disgusting. But there is no justification for a violent assault on live TV. None.”
Representative Dean Phillips (D., Minn.) said: “The obnoxious episode on the Oscars stage last night encapsulates the very mean-spiritedness and erosion of self-control that are spreading in our streets, our schools, and our society. Both are diseases for which we need a moral vaccination.”
Headline Fail of the Week
The Associated Press claims, “Supreme Court nominee’s ‘empathy’ is flashpoint for Senate.” The outlet published a piece saying Senate Republicans oppose President Biden’s nominee, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, because she “brings too much empathy to the job.”
“Empathy is not a quality many Republican senators want to see in the next Supreme Court justice,” writes AP reporter Lisa Mascaro. “Traditionally considered an admirable attribute, the ability to empathize with another’s plight has become a touchstone for GOP opposition to Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.”
The piece goes on to explain how Democrats, beginning with President Obama, have generally supported judges who adhere to a so-called “empathy standard” under which a judge should be able to place themselves in the shoes of a criminal offender. That’s all well and good — to a point, but it doesn’t accord with the way many elected Democrats treat the very judges they expect to be beacons of empathy, when those judges must answer to them during confirmation hearings. Recall the reckless accusations leveled against Judge Brett Kavanaugh, which included the insane charge that he was a serial gang rapist.
Progressives also displayed an astonishing lack of empathy last week when Justice Clarence Thomas was hospitalized with an infection. Some were disappointed that he recovered, while other progressive figures called for his impeachment after it was revealed that his wife sent text messages to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows urging him to challenge Trump’s 2020 election loss.
Squad member Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, as well as the Women’s March, were among those who called for Thomas’s impeachment.
Meanwhile, Ginni Thomas recently told the Washington Free Beacon that she and her husband do not discuss their respective work with each other.
Media Misses
• Newsman Chris Cilizza brings you this important update:
Couple in front of me on flight refused to wear masks.
They were tuned to “Tucker” the whole time.
— Chris Cillizza (@ChrisCillizza) March 26, 2022
• Tom Nichols chided CNN for being “irresponsible” in using a chyron accurately representing President Biden’s declaration that Vladimir Putin cannot remain in power.
This is irresponsible. This chyron makes it seem like this is somehow a war aim. pic.twitter.com/nHwlseLjmv
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) March 26, 2022
• S. E. Cupp was none too pleased with Senator Ben Sasse’s decision not to vote Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court on the basis of her judicial philosophy, but in 2020 showered praise on Kamala Harris for voting against Amy Coney Barrett because of specific judicial outcomes Harris was seeking.
— S.E. Cupp (@secupp) March 26, 2022
This is a perfectly argued, if exaggerated and certainly partisan argument against Amy Coney Barrett, that has nothing to do with her kids, adoption or fake stories about The Handmaid’s Tale. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
— S.E. Cupp (@secupp) September 27, 2020