Will Smith’s attack on Chris Rock at last night’s Oscars awards was a bitch move. It was not only a bad look for Black people in an industry that already doesn’t like us but it was also a bad example in our fight against the scourge of Black-on-Black violence in the world.

When I woke up this morning, the first thing I heard from my alarm radio was that Will Smith had attacked Chris Rock at last night’s Oscars awards over a joke Chris made about Will Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith. Later on, I decided to check out social media to get the full scoop because I do not watch award shows. It was then that I concluded that Will Smith was completely out of line.

Chris Rock is well known as a comedian who cracks jokes about people in his audience and the Oscars, which he has hosted many times before, is no exception. “Roasting” as it is called, is also a normal part of Hollywood culture so what made this situation so unacceptable to Will Smith?  

What made this situation so unacceptable to Will Smith is that he was caught enjoying himself at his wife’s expense and had to do something to redeem himself. I believe that when Jada caught Will laughing, a huge lump came up in his throat and since he had recently become emboldened by playing the fierce family man Richard Williams, the father of Tennis stars Venus and Serina Williams, he thought that that was what MR Williams would have done. (The movie was great, by the way)

Unfortunately, different situations call for different actions from different people. We all know that Richard Williams would’ve attacked Chris Rock in a similar situation but we also know that Chris Rock wouldn’t have made the joke about the Williams family since they’re not entertainers in that way. A bitch move is when someone takes advantage of an unexpected situation because they know that nothing will happen to them in return. Notice how Chris Rock didn’t try to physically defend himself.

We know that if it was a white comedian who made the joke about Jada’s Alopecia, Will wouldn’t have done ish. If it was a Black man like Terry Crews, who has hosted many awards shows before, who had made the joke, Will Smith wouldn’t have done ish either. Terry is too big for him, which is why Will’s attack Chris Rock, a much smaller man then him, was a bitch move.

When another man disses your wife, that is also a diss against you. That means that Will Smith should have been upset during the joke and not after Jada glare-checked him the same way she glare-checked Chris Rock.