The incident got more publicity than it deserved.

You may be right, and your opinion in no way justifies universal ridicule.

Kind of thing…

And if Leo DiCaprio hauls off and smacks George Clooney, I’m going to expect that standard to be upheld.

Welcome to DU, BTW! Bit of a newbie here myself.

especially if it was for “standing up for his woman” in years past. That type of behavior is now seen for what it is, an unacceptable loss of control. Will had plenty of time to consider his actions. From the time he stood up until he was on stage. He could have shamed Chris right then and there for a tasteless joke about an incurable medical condition. He could have told him he needed to apologize to Jada(?) and everyone else who suffers with that condition. But he didn’t. He took the low road and that’s what got him 10 years.

I do too. IMO they both were wrong. Of all the people to crack jokes on Rock picked a Black woman to shame. He knows as well as any other Black person about Black women and their hair. Do not go there. Leave it alone.

I don't think I need to go into why Smith was off the charts wrong.

Welcome to DU.

And maybe that wouldn't have led to a ten-year suspension, because the academy wouldn't have been trying to cover their butts for having bungled it initially.

I think two things happened: first, people were too shocked to react because this was so out of character for Smith. Second, coming out of #OscarsSoWhite and with a focus on diversity, no one wanted the story to be about the excessive punishment of a Black man.

But that's just supposition on my part. Who knows? I would never ridicule you for having a different opinion, and I'm sorry anyone did. I hope it gets better for you after this here at DU!

And yeah, seems a bit harsh. But he's rich, right? So who really cares! [note: this is snark]

Whenever anyone delicately dances into the harsh social media spotlight of the intersection between race and class, the trigger-warning switches get activated. Sirens start blaring. "Woke" and "anti-woke" forces start going into berserker mode. Eventually it all gets swallowed into the gaping maw of the next faux (?) outrage.

This adolescent social media phase is quite nuts, and I truly have no idea where it is all going.

get suspensions from a damn thing.
Welcome aboard.

I welcome your thoughts in this forum.

I just think this situation is dumb. All of it. The punitive measures against Will Smith were brought on by his own actions. I've got nothing for him. The actions of the Academy were expected. That's why he resigned from the Academy. Mr.Smith already knew what time it was the moment he tearfully accepted his award later that evening.
Is there any scenario where a Black person does something wrong and he/she is punished less severely than a White person? Of course not! Will knows this as does the rest if us. He played a stupid game and won a stupid prize.

Full disclosure - I'm a white woman.

I think there was a lot of shock that prevented anyone from doing anything immediately - you just don't expect that and people don't know how to react.

I don't think Chris Rock would have said something like that about a white man's wife (I think that type of automatic self-censorship, especially in black men, is so ingrained it just would not have happened).

I think if Chris Rock had said he wanted Will Smith removed they would have. They asked him and he said "no" (at least that was my understanding).

I think if a white male star had slapped Chris Rock that it would have very much depended on the stature of the white star (how much power they were perceived to have in the academy and in the industry). The lower his status, the higher the likelihood of removal. However, I still think they would have asked Chris Rock.

I think that if a white man had slapped Chris Rock and they had removed him, his removal and an apology would have likely been enough without a 10 year ban but, again, the stature of the white man would have made a huge difference.

My take on the whole thing is basically that one male did a violent sexist thing to another male in response to a violent sexist thing the other male had done. I don't think the academy gives a f**k about women and especially about black women/WOC and had Will Smith merely yelled at Chris Rock from the sidelines they still would have slapped him on the wrist because saying shit about women is perfectly fine but disrupting their big narcissistic awards show is a big no-no.

Finally, I think DU is like the real world - there are racists and misogynists in the Democratic party and they are here, too. There are less of them than in the country on average and exponentially less of them than on the right but they are here, never-the-less.

It’s America and you are entitled to your opinion.