{"id":42571,"date":"2022-03-29T10:45:25","date_gmt":"2022-03-29T14:45:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/?p=42571"},"modified":"2022-09-21T15:55:03","modified_gmt":"2022-09-21T19:55:03","slug":"will-smith-chris-rock-oscars-debacle-exposes-hollywood-hypocrisy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/ncppr\/2022\/03\/29\/will-smith-chris-rock-oscars-debacle-exposes-hollywood-hypocrisy\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Smith – Chris Rock Oscars Debacle Exposes Hollywood Hypocrisy"},"content":{"rendered":"

After actor Will Smith jumped onstage and smacked<\/a><\/strong> comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars for a joke Rock made about Smith\u2019s wife\u2019s hair (or lack of it \u2013 she suffers from alopecia<\/a><\/strong>), the media began defending Smith. On NBC\u2019s \u201cToday\u201d show, host Craig Melvin lamented the reputation of black men not being able to \u201ccontrol their rages.\u201d Host Hoda Kotb suggested that Smith’s behavior was due to his dysfunctional upbringing and bad relationship with his father.<\/p>\n

But Project 21<\/a><\/strong> Co-Chairman Horace Cooper<\/a><\/strong> rebutted the mainstream media\u2019s narrative about the stars\u2019 boorish behavior. He countered:<\/p>\n

This has nothing to do with race, but it has a lot to do with the left continually normalizing and racializing behavior. How about: Everybody\u2019s capable of good behavior, and bad behavior ought to be frowned upon whenever it happens?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On the Fox News Channel\u2019s \u201cThe Ingraham Angle,\u201d Horace and fellow Project 21 member Vince Ellison<\/a> <\/strong>discussed the hypocrisy in how the left and the mainstream media are dealing with this irrational emotional outburst in front of those who profess to be the best of American society.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m watching the left cannibalize itself,\u201d Vince laughed, \u201cand I\u2019m having a good time doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Horace further explained the left\u2019s logical disconnect:<\/p>\n

The left never gets away from apologizing or normalizing bad behavior. And \u2013 in this case \u2013 they apologized, they normalized and made it actually a cool thing to do to mock people for their medical conditions. I mean, I know we want to do a lot of things for a joke, but we can probably find a lot to laugh about without having to go in that particular direction.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Host Laura Ingraham brought up that \u201crank violence\u2026 is glorified on social media.\u201d She cited streaming fight videos that rack up millions of views, and the proliferation of random violence in America these days that includes \u201cknockout games\u201d<\/a><\/strong> perpetrated against innocent people as well as bystanders being pushed<\/a><\/strong> in front of trains for no apparent reason.<\/p>\n

Now, she pointed out, two of entertainment\u2019s biggest stars are fighting in front of their comrades \u2013 broadcast to an international television audience. Vince remarked:<\/p>\n

Hollywood has taken it too far. Chris Rock took it too far. He got dealt with. And Will Smith took it too far, and now he\u2019s getting dealt with<\/a><\/strong> for it.<\/p>\n

We see this type of violence all the time. You\u2019ve got two things going on here: you got a guy with no respect and a guy with no impulse control. Then you have this collision. But the left is cannibalizing itself.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While Smith later apologized<\/a><\/strong>, saying he was \u201cout of line\u201d and \u201cwrong,\u201d Vince said the act itself speaks ill of those who profess to be our betters:<\/p>\n

This is a harbinger\u2026 to seeing this happen in Hollywood. These people are the people who try to tell us how to be tolerant. They tell us how to be nice to one another. They want to lecture America all the time about our shortcomings \u2013 but then you see this.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re hypocrites! They\u2019ve always been hypocrites. They always will be hypocrites.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cAnd we have to pray for them,\u201d Vince added. \u201cHopefully, they will be better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similarly, Horace had some advice for how the entertainment elite could have handled the situation with taste \u2013 teaching others a valuable lesson in the process:<\/p>\n

Do you know the most adult and responsible thing that could have happened last night [at the Oscars]?<\/p>\n

That would have been if Will Smith heard this joke or this comment and he found it offensive, he and his wife could have immediately stood up and walked out of the assembly. When they called his name to announce he had actually won an Oscar and he wasn\u2019t there, someone would have to explain that offensive joke created this problem.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the way a mature adult behaves.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n