There was a controversial incident that took place at this year’s Oscars award ceremony, that saw American actor Will Smith slap Oscars host and comedian Chris Rock. While hosting the award ceremony, comedian Chris Rock who was cracking up the audience, suddenly made a snide remark about Will Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith to the amusement of others. But it happened that the Men in the black star was not impressed with the comedian’s remark about his wife.
The actor then took to the stage and slapped the comedian on his face, leaving the audience in shock. A noticeably shocked Chris tried to brush off the encounter by still being hilarious about the incident. While Will Smith returned to his seat, he was heard hurling “keep my wife’s name out of your mouth” to Chris Rock. The incident has been trending for a while and has been on the lips of many who felt Will Smith took things overboard by slapping Chris, which many termed as an egregious assault.
Will Smith who later won an award that night, for best actor, used his speech to address the issue, and also apologized to the academy and his peers for displaying such unprofessional behavior. He however stated that he was wrong, but he got triggered when Chris Rock made a mockery of his wife with a distasteful joke. After the show, it was later discovered that Will Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith whose shaved hair was made fun of by the comedian, was suffering from Alopecia, a health disorder that is the partial or complete absence of hair from areas of the body where it normally grows.
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Reacting to the Oscars incident, some Nigerian celebrities like Paul Okoye of the twin music singing sensation, Psquare, and music executive Ubi Franklin have however seized the opportunity to caution Nigerian comedians against making expensive jokes at the expense of their subject. They further stated that if Nigerian comedians make careless remarks about their personal life, they will replicate what Will Smith did to Chris Rock at the Oscars award. If you are very familiar with Nigerian comedians and their jokes, you will notice that they often make expensive jokes at the expense of their subjects.
It is very prevalent in their comedy shows where they even get to make jokes about top political officials. Personally, such jokes can be appalling as these comedians tend to take things overboard. Sometimes they make derogatory remarks about a person’s physical features, which unknown to them, such a person might be suffering from an ailment they choose not to disclose. Just like the case of Chris Rock who made a joke about Jada Smith’s shaved hair, unknown to him, she was suffering from Alopecia.
The incident at the Oscars award ceremony should be a wake-up call to not just American comedians but also Nigerian comedians to desist from making careless jokes especially jokes at the expense of their subject. They should understand that humans are not made of steel, and not everyone has the capability to stomach whatever joke is thrown at them.
