Will Smith slaps Chris Rock

Well one of the most watched videos on the internet right now is the moment when actor Will Smith, famous for his roles in the “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” and “Men in Black” hit comedian Chris Rock on the face last Sunday.

Yes, that’s right ladies and gentleman, an actor who shortly afterwards went on to receive an Oscar, walked onto the stage in front of an audience of over 20 million viewers and hit another guy in the face.

Will Smith in a tearful speech to receive his first Oscar for the film “King Richard” apologised to the academy and then subsequently to Chris Rock himself.

The reason for the action was that Chris Rock had made a passing joke about Will Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Chris’ joke appeared to poke fun at Jada’s shaved head. She suffers from a skin condition called alopecia and so has her head shaved, which she has spoken about publicly.

Well what do you think? Was Will Smith right to stand up for his wife in that way and do what he did? I don’t think so. In this world of violence, it’s never right to use our fists to sort a dispute. As Will Smith later admitted “I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness”.

Violence is wrong. Full stop. But the actions show the strength of feeling of the man, that he felt his wife was being disrespected and wanted to stand up to that, and I hope that as this incident continues to be discussed, as it will, that will be remembered.

In the Bible book of Hosea, God’s love for his people is described like a husband who loves his wife, even though she has been unfaithful. But God’s strong protection and loyalty even for a wayward wife is not marked by violence done to others, but violence endured by him.

And as we will remember on Good Friday, Jesus was actually willing to take violence on himself to lay down his life for his people, his bride, in the world’s greatest rescue, rather than execute judgement on others.

Will Smith said “love will make you do crazy things”. But Jesus’ actions show the purest and most beautiful kind of love of all.

Thank you for listening, and have a great day.

Followed by "Crazy little thing called Love"

Charlie Newcombe 30/3/22