Source: Christopher Polk / Getty
Tony Rock is still fuming over Will Smith slapping his brother Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards. During an April Fool’s Day comedy show at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina, Rock had a few choice words for the King Richard star and promised to defend his brother every chance he gets.
“If you think you gonna to walk up on this stage, this ain’t the motherf****** Oscars!,” he screamed as the crowd cheered on. “And if you walk your a** up here, you ain’t nominated for s*** but these motherf****** hands! Oh, we going to pop the rest of the year, n****. Every time you see me do a show, pop! I didn’t want to start the show like that!…You gonna hit my motherf****** brother because your b**** gave you a side-eye?”
Rock then added that the Top Five star has an army behind him.
“Oh, it’s a lot of Rock brothers, y’all ain’t know, it’s a lot of Rock brothers.”
Will Smith has been receiving a mix of backlash and sympathy ever since the March 27 incident where he shocked the world by slapping Rock after he made a G.I Jane joke about Jada Pinkett-Smith’s beautiful baldie. He’s been condemned for allowing his emotions to take over and cause him to embarrass himself as well as another Black man on national television. Smith has also been offered comfort by those who understand his plight growing up seeing his mother get physically abused by his father and taking an opportunity to defend the woman in his life the way he couldn’t as a child. Plus, Smith has been the butt of jokes since Pinkett-Smith’s entanglement with August Alsina was revealed and when she and Tupac Shakur’s friendship is brought up. His actions seem to be a result of rage that has been brewing behind the scenes.
Tony Rock’s rage is completely understandable, however, Smith’s reaction is bigger than his “b**** giving him the side eye.” As a licensed psychotherapist, I can assure you that Smith’s reaction was that of a trauma survivor. People with childhood trauma have difficulty regulating their emotions, which is what we saw the night of the Oscars. Rock’s anger is completely warranted but we can empathize with Smith’s predicament.
