Will Smith and Chris Rock: A Slow Cooked Slap

Two days after the celebration of the film festival par excellence, the most famous of the gala has nothing to do with the seventh art. The unexpected slap that Will Smith gave Chris Rock, the presenter of the ceremony, has stolen the limelight from the winners, the outfits or the subsequent party from which some gossip always leaks.

The truth is that it was a blow cooked over a slow fire, throughout these years in which Rock has publicly mocked Pinkett repeatedly. The last one, in 2016, and it also happened at the Oscar Awards ceremony.

“Jada said she wasn’t coming. I thought: Is Jada going to boycott the Oscars? Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna’s panties. She was not invited”, she said then.

Thus, this last comment that caused the fury of Will Smith seems only the tip of the iceberg of the story that hides behind the most famous slap in the world.

The obvious tension between them and Rock’s dislike for Jada could come from an alleged “affair” that both would have maintained years ago, during the recordings of the three ‘Madagascar’ films.

Although the romance was never confirmed, the rumors were very strong at the time, and the film team made sure that their chemistry had crossed the screen. What’s more, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett’s open relationship further fueled these rumors.

As if this were not enough, shortly after, Chris Rock announced his divorce and acknowledged that he had been unfaithful to his wife, Malaak Compton, although he did not reveal the identity of his lover.

The supposed idyll would explain the tensions that, for years, have been perceived between the three artists and that ended up materializing in the controversial slap that will go down in the annals of the history of the Oscar Awards.

Will Smith, Jada Pinkett and Chris Rock’s relationship dates back several decades. They all met in “The Prince of Bel Air”, the comedy series to which the dancer auditioned, although she was finally not selected for the role, curiously, of the protagonist’s girlfriend.

In fact, Smith and Rock maintained a friendly relationship, but, in recent years, the link between them has been breaking until reaching the current terrible situation.

Jada Pinkett Simith with Chris Rock, Ben Stiller and David Schwimmer during the promotion of ‘Madagascar 3’.

Who is more macho?

The slap has opened the debate on social networks about the machismo that can be seen in what happened. On one side, Rock is accused of making fun of Jada’s physical appearance while the same joke would be impossible on a bald man.

But also Will Smith singled out for acting violently to defend his wife, claiming “love” to excuse his reprehensible attack.

“Same speech that has been justifying sexist violence for centuries. It is unfortunate that something like this can happen in front of millions of people”, has censored, among many other users, Nagua Alba, who was a deputy in Congress for United We Can until 2019.