Dear white people, please move on from Will Smith’s Oscars slap. It cannot be the reason for everything going wrong in your world. Yes, I’m looking at you Sean Penn. It’s nice that you’re so supportive of Ukraine, but you could have easily talked about that issue without dragging Will into it. Hold up, let’s start from the beginning.
Ahead of the 2022 Oscars, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made several virtual appearances on major events around the world. Penn, a very vocal and intense supporter of the country, made it known that if Zelenskyy wasn’t a part of the Oscars broadcast he would destroy his two Academy Awards. The president wasn’t on the show, but it became unforgettable for another reason.
That was the night that Smith slapped the hell out of comedian Chris Rock after he made a joke about Will’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith. He stormed the stage, slapped the comic and told him to “Keep my wife’s name out your fucking mouth.” After a short commercial break, the King Richard star won the award for Best Actor. He received a standing ovation and we were inundated with a neverending stream of think pieces about Will’s behavior and sob stories from white stars. Now, Penn is using the Men in Black star’s infamous actions as the reason why he melted down his awards.
“I don’t know Will Smith. I met him once. He seemed very nice when I met him. He was so fucking good in King Richard,” Penn told Variety. “So why the fuck did you just spit on yourself and everybody else with this stupid fucking thing? Why did I go to fucking jail for what you just did? And you’re still sitting there? Why are you guys standing and applauding his worst moment as a person?”
The Dead Man Walking actor is referencing his own well-documented history of assault, as he was arrested and charged several times during the ‘80s. Many of his arrests came from him punching journalists, photographers and other men who were close to his ex-wife Madonna. Nope, you do not get to equate your transgressions with Will, who has no history of assault. Penn is even claiming that Zelenskyy’s presence would have prevented the slap.
“This fucking bullshit wouldn’t have happened with Zelenskyy. Will Smith would never have left that chair to be part of stupid violence,” he said. “It never would have happened.”
How about you stay out of other peoples’ business. Did Smith mess up? Yes, obviously. But that doesn’t mean you get to use him as a prop in whatever wild, privileged point you’re trying to make. Also, you don’t know the history between these two men, so once again, sit down and hush up. Apparently, this was the last straw that pushed him over the edge, so he had his Oscars destroyed for Ukraine.
“I thought, well, fuck, you know? I’ll give them to Ukraine,” Penn said. “They can be melted down to bullets they can shoot at the Russians.”
Nah, Spicoli. You made it very clear in the weeks leading up to the show why you wanted to destroy your trophies. You said it as loud as possible with your whole chest. Now you need to stand by that and leave Will Smith out of it. When someone has the rap sheet that you have, you don’t get to act all offended by one mistake from one of the most influential Black people in entertainment.