The slap also overshadowed Will Smith's own Oscar win when you get right down to it. What should've been the crowning achievement of his acting career will forever be clouded by him slapping Chris Rock over his "GI Jane 2" joke.
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And what's particularly interesting about that is that it was a "dead certainty" that Will Smith WAS going to win that night.
As I recall, when he was up for Best Actor one year (Ali or The Pursuit of Happyness) Smith gave out an Oscar as a presenter that night -- but was gone by the time Best Actor was announced; they just put his photo up even though he had been there earlier!
So I figure in that year, Smith knew he wasn't going to win, and left early. This time, he knew that he could NOT do that...he was going to win for King Richard. He had to stay and keep the dread in the room.
Another troubling precedent for Smith's slap:
I recall one year Will Smith gave out the Oscar for Best Special Effects and he said something like this:
"I'm here to give out the Oscar for something rare - movies that PEOPLE ACTUALLY GO SEE!" While it was meant as somewhat of a joke, I recall Smith looking pretty angry as he said it -- I thought, "I think he really means that."
So there has probably always been a tension at the modern Oscar show between the successful superstars who present and the often obscure movies and actors they award.
In fact, at this same Oscar award, did you notice how the hosts rather "dumped" on Best Picture nominee The Power of the Dog? At least one, maybe twice, with Wanda Sykes saying something like "I've watched Power of the Dog three times now..maybe someday I'll be able to actually finish it."
I do wonder: whatever was going through Will Smith's mind in the minutes after "the slap"(who knows?), what did he think when he looked up to see Pacino and DeNiro and Coppola taking the stage right in front of him? (Introduced by P. Diddy.)
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kungfulord (957)
2 years ago
(Introduced by P. Diddy.)
LOL that almost make me choke ¿why they didn't put Scorsese to introduce Coppola, Pacino and Deniro? That would have been wayyyy more appropriate for so many reason the old friendship between both directors, the fact Scorsese have directed both actors and Deniro has been his main actor during his entire career, the fact both director came from a similar background, both directors with their movies have redefined the gangster genre, and mostly if we take in consideration Scorsese in some point was the main choice of Coppola to direct Godfather part II
I know have nothing to do with the theme of the thread, but I needed to say it.
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