What the actual fuck is the point of this article? We SHOULDN’T hold people responsible for live on-camera assaults? We SHOULD but not take so long about it? The Academy is responsible for punishing American citizens of crimes they’ve been accused of but not actually convicted of? Some celebrities are worse than Will…

Lot of “whataboutism” going on in this article that in no way actually addressed the assault Smith committed on live television and the response by the organization hosting the show, about which this article is ostensibly titled.

Ew Jesus Christ. That should be a picture of a dude with his three grandkids.

rock not wanting smith to be arrested is one thing.

I generally agree with how the LAPD part was handled, but I question that the Oscars didn’t do anything like escort Smith out before the Best Actor presentation because Rock didn’t want that. It’s not Rock’s show and he wasn’t even one of the hosts. It was incumbent on the Academy to implement policies for their…

I wrote same above. Not only was he the soul of professionalism but since hasn’t tried to dine out on the publicity in any way unlike apparently quite a few people who had no involvement and Will Smith with his lame-ass non-apology.

I just can’t imagine removing him would have gone well because even if Smith didn’t kick up a fuss, who knows if others in the room would have tried to intervene on his behalf or just in reaction to seeing the police take him. It was a guaranteed shitshow.

Actually, I think this is exactly what they should have done. I’m sure they WERE relieved they didn’t have to do it for the reasons mentioned, but honestly? If Joe Unknown Dude From the Makeup Team walked onto the stage and slapped the presenter, I’m pretty sure he’d be gone. Smith committed assault, whether Chris…

I agree with you about Rock’s reaction. However, I’m still pissed that they gave Smith Best Actor 15 mins later like nothing happened. At best, he should have been ejected from the premises and had the frickin’ statue mailed to him at a later date.

I think Ryan Coogler’s recent arrest made it clear there is no “kind of black man” who can’t get harassed by police.

The more I learn about this the more I respect Chris Rock, the more I pity the fact that despite all he has accomplished he will prolly be remembered for this effed up incident, the more I empathize with how he got himself out the hood to be amongst Hollywoods most elite only to have hood behavior attach itself to him…

Yah, I have to imagine this was major factor.

Something I learned from this interview was that this was the first-ever all-Black Oscars production team. Which meant these folks and Chris Rock had to decide if America was going to see one of the most famous Black men in the world be taken out in cuffs by the LAPD. I do not fault them at all for not wanting that to…

It also feels like shock. How could you make such a huge decision in that moment? Its not just a slap - its a slap millions of people watched and you’re in a room surrounded by Hollywood. That must have been immense pressure to just try and stop the madness. If it took place in a bar, Chris Rock may have made a…

Rather than assuming toxic masculinity, it could be that Rock hasn’t abdicated out his moral agency in favor of that of the LAPD, and genuinely did not want to subject Smith to the LAPD’s and the justice system notion of an appropriate response.

I don’t really think it should have been up to Chris.  He shouldn’t have had to make the decision.  That’s not fair to him.  

yet the more Christian this country becomes, the more hate filled and divisive. Curious.

She has one kid but strong opinions why other people should have more.

I do think it will be interesting to see if Hispanic people are eventually folded into whiteness like Irish and Italian folks were. Many Latin American immigrants are Catholic (aka the “wrong” kind of Christianity), but a huge wave of evangelicalism has been sweeping Central and South America over the last 20 years -…

Exactly.