There’s a popular saying that “the internet never forgets”, and the Oscars ‘slapgate’ is reminding netizens just that. Now, an old clip of Will Smith making fun of a bald man in his earlier acting days has resurfaced, brewing a new controversy online.
For the uninitiated, things at the 94th Academy Awards took an unexpected turn when Smith went up on the stage and smacked comedian and host Chris Rock for making a joke at the expense of his wife Jada Pinkett Smith. While initially the Oscar-winning actor was seen laughing at the joke, he then took umbrage at Rock cracking a joke about her alopecia and smacked him across the face.
Although many were not happy with Rock’s joke involving Jada who suffers from alopecia, they didn’t condone violence. As criticism and a plethora of memes of the moment followed, someone dug up an old video of the King Richard star from 1991 when he poked fun at a bassist of a band at a TV show for his look.
Appearing at The Arsenio Hall Show, the actor was heard saying: “The bass player? He got a rule. He got to wax his head every morning.” Continuing that the band member follows the rule diligently, the camera showed the artist in question, who just respond with a smile. As the audience present in the studio was heard clapping, someone is heard saying, “rude”, to which Smith double-downed and responded: “Oh! it’s a joke, come on”.
The rewind video posted on YouTube garnered over 1.6 million views with many saying it’s a perfect example of “double standards”.
After the video started going viral, Rolling Stones reached out to the bassist in question to know about his views on Oscars night’s events. “I didn’t take it seriously. He was a comedian. He was the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. He was a rapper. I took it as a joke. I laughed it off,” bassist John B Williams said.
Williams also argued that Smith lost his temper because the joke was on his wife rather than him, adding that he was defending someone he truly loves. Something Smith said in his acceptance speech later that night.
He also issued a formal apology, where he added: “Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally.”
The Academy on Wednesday revealed that Smith was “asked to leave” the ceremony after the incident but he “refused”.
