Ahhh yes. There used to be a time when any major award show was a “must watch” for me.
The Golden Globes. The Emmy Awards. The Grammy’s. The Tony’s. And the mother of all award shows…The Academy Awards!
I used to lit-uh-ruh-lee plan my entire day around Oscar! No more!
I would begin my Oscar countdown by watching Joan Rivers on the red carpet. And I loved her wit, sarcasm and her accolades when they were rarely deserved. It gave me such pleasure to see her put such self-important act-oors in their place. And of course, it was all about the hair, the makeup, and what the entertainment world was wearing—or not wearing!
I miss my Joan. She was the greatest thing to ever happen to awards shows. She must have been rolling around in her grave over last week’s ceremony!
A few years back, I would gloriously review these shows on the blog. And might I add, there was always praise, and snark and a few jokes made regarding ensembles that ran from beautiful, to garish and downright whore-ish.
Kirsten Dunst from my 2017 look at the Oscars. Hands down. She was THE best dressed that year! I LOVE this entire look!
Now. Understand. I don’t even watch award shows anymore.
My first “red flag” that the awards environment was shifting was the banning of Ricky Gervais from hosting The Academy Awards after he did a remarkable job of poking fun at the self-righteous, narcissistic, self-important actors who –well, basically are fuller of themselves than being full of sh*t! (It’s still Lent)
Of all the Oscar hosts, I’ll take Gervais. He was greatness and I if he ever comes back as host, I’ll be watching again!
And then we had Covid. And then came onto a new phase of award shows. Somewhere along the line, people became offended at the slightest remarks, made in fun about anything from clothing, to hair, to shoes to makeup…and the list goes on. Folks became uber-sensitive.
And too self-important!
Comedians, who actually made pretty funny jokes about the actors in the audience, were seemingly put at bay. Instead of “roasting”, it became a politically correct “toasting”. People found comedy “offensive”. The Oscars, in particular, were becoming a platform for politics as opposed to a night of fun, happiness, and laughter—at one’s and others’ expense.
Currently, the uber-sensitive would despise these roasts, I happen to think they are hysterically funny. If you lack the ability to laugh at yourself, you lack a sense of humor.
The very last thing I want at an awards show is politics. Just as church and state should be separated, so should the Awards shows and politics. I want to see fluff. I want to see the campiest, tackiest dresses ever. I want to see all sorts of makeup looks. I want to see the tasteful ensembles as well as the tasteless.
This gold AMEX dress goes down as one of the tackiest ever!
And I want a chuckle.
And this getup just made me laugh. It still does!
The Frenchman and I opted to not watch the Oscars Sunday night simply because I no longer have the patience to watch any form of narcissism. I cannot tolerate self-importance and, instead, we watched The Righteous Gemstones. I needed my fix of Uncle Baby Billy.
Uncle Baby Billy is far more interesting than any award show. And those teef!!!!!
To be honest, I was hoping that Troy Kotsur, who played the father in CODA, would win for best supporting actor. I was also hoping CODA would win for best picture. I wanted Questlove to win for Summer of Soul and lastly, Kenneth Branagh for anything to do with Belfast.
And he won!!!!!!!
...and Questlove won!!!!!
…and Branagh won!!!!
All four of my hopes came true.
And CODA won Best Picture! I was four for four!!!! Too bad I’m not a gambler!
But I missed the dramatic turn that brought the Oscars to a sudden halt for a few minutes.
When Will Smith slapped Chris in, what is now called “The Slap Heard Around The World”.
It’s assault. Plain and simple. Assault.
And from seeing footage of the circumstance, and reading about the incident hundreds of times since last Sunday, I must put my two-cents worth in.
We have Chris Rock. Mr. Rock is a comedian. He is a very funny comedian. His standup is very funny. He was great on SNL. He is great in movies. He’s talented.
From his start on SNL to his guest-hosting, Chris Rock is a very funny guy!
We have Will Smith. He used to rap with DJ. Jazzy Jeff. He used to be The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Which, by the way, was a really great show. My kids loved it! Then he became a star of movies, and his star kept rising. Pardon me for saying, but I also think as his star rose, he became quite full of himself. That isn’t to say he’s not talented. He is.
Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was a great family show. I watched it with my kids–and I admit that Carlton was my favorite character. I hope Will Smith doesn’t assault me for saying that!
And we have Jada Pinkett-Smith. She was in one of my favorite shows from the 1990’s: A Different World. She had hair. Now she doesn’t have hair. She, too, is a talented actor.
Another great family show was “A Different World” which I also watched with my children. The then Jada Pinkett was great in it. Shhh. Don’t tell her that Jasmine Guy as Whitley was my favorite from the show or Jada will do the eye-roll and side eye and her husband will slap me!
On Alopecia: There are various degrees ranging from temporary to extremely severe. Overall, it isn’t life-threatening. Devastating? Sure. But any form of hair loss is devastating at first. Then you get used to it and either wear wigs or shave your head.
![Classification of female androgenetic alopecia 1 - Stock Illustration [57980542] - PIXTA](https://i0.wp.com/en.pimg.jp/057/980/542/1/57980542.jpg?resize=356%2C282&ssl=1)
A diagram of female androgenetic alopecia 1–or female pattern baldness. Either way, five of these drawings call for a wig to be worn. Just my opinion.
Jada shaved her head. And quite frankly, she looks beautiful with a shaved head. And might I add, she isn’t completely bald. There is growth on her shaved head.
Not gonna lie. She looks beautiful. She looks gorgeous with her shaved head. The dress is stunning. The shoes? I would have rather seen her in pointy-toed, toe-cleavage bearing shoes. Don’t tell Will or he’ll slap me.
It is also a fact that Mr. and Mrs. Will Smith have what is known as an “Open” marriage. Meaning they can do the bouncy-bouncy with other people than each other. The fact that this is openly discussed by both-especially Mrs. Smith I find to be too much private information and bordering on vulgarity. But that’s just my opinion.
Personally, I don’t think we, the public, need to know about their open marriage. That is their business. Ugh.
Okay. So, the tone is set.
The Oscar ceremony is a chance to give accolades to those who have worked hard. Hosts joke and poke fun. Bob Hope did it. A lot. When Ricky Gervais did it, he was booted from ever hosting again. Too bad. I love him.
As much as I love Gervais, I do believe Bob Hope was the greatest Oscar host of all time. I remember watching him from childhood to adulthood and he poked fun at everyone. Thankfully Will Smith wasn’t born yet or he’d slapped Mr. Hope!
This year Chris Rock made a reference to the movie “GI Jane”. Demi Moore starred in the movie. She sported a shaved head. Her shaved head was akin to Jada Pinkett Smith. They were twinning! Chris Rock’s joke. He didn’t say “Hey, what’s the difference between Jada Pinkett’s head and a cue ball?” He didn’t say “Hey Jada, why aren’t you wearing a wig? Isn’t your head cold in this air-conditioned building?”
Oh. Look! Demi Moore has a shaved head. For the movie “GI Jane”!
Nope! He merely made a remark about her starring in G. I. Jane 2 due to the similar hair style. Period.
Oh look! Here’s the REFERENCE Chris Rock made. It wasn’t mean-spirited. It wasn’t vicious. It was a JOKE!!!!
And it was amusing. Not in a rolling-off-the-sofa-laughing kind of way, but in a chuckling smirky kind of way.
And Will Smith laughed. And appeared to have enjoyed the little reference-as-joke.
At first–he laughed. And a hearty laugh it seemed to be…
Then he saw his wife’s eye roll and side eye.
Uh oh….someone’s wife isn’t very happy. It’ll take more than a Louis Vuitton bag to make her happy……
And all of a sudden, he started spewing the eff word (it’s still Lent and I’ve been good). And he ran up on stage and slapped Rock clear across the face.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhh how the laughter changed. And spewing the “f” bomb in front of all those people. Save it for the highway Will. Save it for someone almost smashing into your car or NOT signaling when getting into your lane.
It was a disgusting display of assault. And worse than that, when Smith won his award for best actor, the phony Hollywood elite gave him a standing ovation.
What a pathetic creature Smith is.
A standing ovation he clearly did not deserve.
Whaaa Whaaa Whaaa. A most narcissistic, self-serving display of patronizing and insincerity.
It remainsastounding to me how a knowingly group of mostly liberal, peace-pontification people can yap about anti-violence then moments later give accolades and an ovation to a self-serving, self-righteous, self-important, narcissist, who executed an act of violence that was televised for the world to see.
…and lest we not forgot those fawning over this assaulter
Let’s add to that his innate and selfish ability to take the glory away from Questlove and other winners.
I was thrilled that Questlove was able to discuss his Oscar win on Fallon and happy that my son got to see this live!
Smith is a tool. His wife, with her side-eye and openly speaking of her extra-marital events is no better.
So that’s it. What will happen with Smith’s career? I honestly don’t care. What about Rock? I’m happy that his stand up is still going strong. And Mrs. Smith? I don’t care either.
I’m happy that Adam Sandler and others have Rock’s back after this event.
I’m glad my favorites won Oscars and I’ll end it at that.
A week later and what do you think?
I have nothing to add about the ‘slap heard around the world’ but if you love Ricky Gervais as I do, I think you’ll enjoy After Life (Netfix?) which he wrote, directed and starred in. I think we see the real Ricky, otherwise he wouldn’t have written something so tender and heartwarming.
Hi Barb. And thank you for the recommendation. I am now finished with my series on Netflix and in search of another. After Life will be starting this evening! XXOXXOXOX
I agree with you, Catherine!
Thank you Jackie! XOXOXOXO
I totally, 100%, whole heartedly, agree with YOU! Geez oh Pete. And the fashions this year? Mostly ick. Did you see the sweet moment between Gaga and Liza Minelli? At least there was some humanity and love there..
Hi Susan. I wished I watched the Oscars only to see Gaga and Liza. I had no idea Minelli was in a wheelchair. I hope she is not very ill. Too bad that act of gentle kindness was overshadowed by Smith’s vulgar and violent behavior! XOXOXOXO
I didn’t watch the Oscars but like many, I did see the ‘slap’. Honestly it was like something out of those trashy so called reality shows – some thug saying some guy had ‘disrespected his baby mama’. Trashy. Comedians push the boundaries all the time, they don’t expect someone from the audience is going to come up and slap them. Will and his wife need to come off their high horse and realize they are no better than anyone else. Their arrogance was something to behold. Now he’s come out with an apology and resigned from the Academy but the damage has been done. His arrogance took something away from those that were celebrating. It became a ‘look at ME’ moment and not in a good way. And those that gave him a standing ovation need to take their heads out of their butts and realize their own hypocrisy.
Hi Sheila! I’m glad you broached the subject of comedians. They have a tough job. Comedy –especially stand up, has always been focused on making us laugh at ourselves. Sadly, too many people become offended. . Yeah. The Oscars were akin to Jerry Springer or Morton Downey. Oh the humanity!!! XOXOXOXO
Totally agree with you! We didn’t watch the Oscar telecast because we live in Italy and it was on while we were sleeping, but we saw (who could miss it this last week?) the videos. It was appalling! The first time I watched the replay I said to my husband, “He needs meds!” And I still think that. And we also like Ricky Gervais in this household.
Hi Jann! LOL. He needs more than meds. He is so full of himself it’s absolutely disgusting. Gervais made a comment that he wouldn’t have made a “hair” joke, he would have gone at her for her extra-marital affair–that open marriage!! XOXOXO
Smith’s actions were very deliberate. He didn’t run “in the heat of the moment”. He walked. Slugged. And walked back. And then spewed forth obscenities. He had time to think about what he was doing and proceeded anyway. After laughing at the joke initially.
Jean. Exactly!!! And that phoney acceptance speech was just as bad! XOXOXO
You nailed it – Will Smith himself has made jokes in the past about people without hair, from the little I did see I dont think Chris Rock was saying anything horrible, he didnt say she looked awful or anything he was just comparing hair / head style from one female to another sheesh. It was just WS having his silver-back gorilla moment and pathetic Most of the dresses were badly fitting could have done with a press or just were not well executed and not very original by the way. On the other hand a photo of Rita Moreno the other day glammed up the other night was gorgeous – divine
Hi Juliet. And thank you! I’m glad you liked the post. Yeah. Smith was on Arsenio Hall show back in the day making fun at a band member who was bald. What a self-righteous phoney! And it’s true. Rock said NOTHING derogatory in reference to JPS. He compared her shaved hear to Demi Moore. It’s ridiculous! XOXOXOXO
Love your blog! Reading your insights is one thing I look forward to on Sunday’s. Thank you so much for taking the time to create this gem. Also, thank you for putting into words all the feelings surrounding events at the Oscars. 💗
Thank you Jenny! XOXOXOXO
Catherine – this is such a well written article!! I agree with all that you have said here. This needs to go viral!!! Love your blog!!
Thanks so much June! It’s too bad that none of my blog posts have made it to the big time-LOL!! XOXOXOXOX
I just thought it was a publicity stunt.
HI Nancy. A good number of people thought so as well. But sadly, it wasn’t. Who curses like that on a globally televised award show? Rock was truly stunned. Smith is a tool as far as I’m concerned! XXOXOXO
Hello, Cathe. Let me start by saying that Chris Rock is one of my favorite comedians. He did host the Oscars a while back, and I thought he did a great job, but the producers have not invited him back because they thought his jokes were too aggressive. As for this year’s incident, there are a couple of issues at play here. If Chris Rock knew of Pinkett’s alopecia, his joke could have been seen as cruel and offensive. Making fun of a woman with thinning hair — even if it’s done indirectly as was the case with Rock — is similar to making fun of a person with a medical impairment. Alopecia in females is always accompanied by mental suffering; medically speaking, that’s a deficit. No, alopecia doesn’t kill a woman but it sure causes her untold depression. If Pinkett were offended, the proper course of action would have been for her to issue a statement about what Rock had said. On the other hand, perhaps Rock knew of Pinkett’s condition (it’s been well publicised) and perhaps he did want to bring the issue out in the open as a way of discussing it. After all, he did create a documentary for HBO about hair and the response of the female population to the issue of hair and the hair business. He had decided to make this documentary because of questions his young daughter was asking him about hair. Well, unfortunately, Will Smith’s brutish behavior shifted the issue from Pinkett’s alopecia. All we are discussing now are the thug-like actions of Smith. Instead, we should be discussing Jada Pinkett’s alopecia. That would be empowering for women!!! Gervais never hosted the Oscars. Instead, he hosted the Golden Globes five times and was never censored. He did say recently that he would not host the Oscars because he is sure he would be contractually obligated to follow instructions about what jokes he could use. He added that if he were to hypothetically host he would open with the line, “I hope this show helps cheer up the ordinary people watching at home. If you’re unemployed for example, take some comfort in the fact that even if you had a job, your salary probably wouldn’t be as much as the goody bag all the actors have just been given.” And he said he would host for free if he could write his own jokes. Usually, the Oscars are a great sleeping pill but this year, whoops, bad dream, it woke us up!
Hello, Cathe. Let me start by saying that Chris Rock is one of my favorite comedians. He did host the Oscars a while back, and I thought he did a great job, but the producers have not invited him back because they thought his jokes were too aggressive. As for this year’s incident, there are a couple of issues at play here. If Chris Rock knew of Pinkett’s alopecia, his joke could have been seen as cruel and offensive. Making fun of a woman with thinning hair — even if it’s done indirectly as was the case with Rock — is similar to making fun of a person with a medical impairment. Alopecia in females is always accompanied by mental suffering; medically speaking, that’s a deficit. No, alopecia doesn’t kill a woman but it sure causes her untold depression. If Pinkett were offended, the proper course of action would have been for her to issue a statement about what Rock had said. On the other hand, perhaps Rock knew of Pinkett’s condition (it’s been well publicised) and perhaps he did want to bring the issue out in the open as a way of discussing it. After all, he did create a documentary for HBO about hair and the response of the female population to the issue of hair and the hair business. He had decided to make this documentary because of questions his young daughter was asking him about hair. Well, unfortunately, Will Smith’s brutish behavior shifted the issue from Pinkett’s alopecia. All we are discussing now are the thug-like actions of Smith. Instead, we should be discussing Jada Pinkett’s alopecia. That would be empowering for women!!! Gervais never hosted the Oscars. Instead, he hosted the Golden Globes five times and was never censored. He did say recently that he would not host the Oscars because he is sure he would be contractually obligated to follow instructions about what jokes he could use. He added that if he were to hypothetically host he would open with the line, “I hope this show helps cheer up the ordinary people watching at home. If you’re unemployed for example, take some comfort in the fact that even if you had a job, your salary probably wouldn’t be as much as the goody bag all the actors have just been given.” And he said he would host for free if he could write his own jokes. Usually, the Oscars are a great sleeping pill but this year, whoops, bad dream, it woke us up! Cathe, I enjoyed your post. You certainly have a knack for good writing, I love reading your pieces!!!!!
Hi Kyrianna. Rock is great! And the thing is, his joke/remark had nothing to do with alopecia. It had everything to do with the reference to the movie GI Jane and Demi Moore’s shaved head. Inasmuch as JPS feeling “offended”, I’m not buying it. She’s been extremely open about her hairloss and that shows strength. Had she not been open about it, I could understand hurt feelings. Seriously–if she was that offended or that insecure about her hair loss, she would have worn a wig.
Experiencing hair loss, for me, is no big deal. I don’t need to have a narrative other than it is what it is and I wear wigs. Everyone is different. What I think is awful on JPS’s part is her alopecia has a milder cause. And she hasn’t come forward about that.
Smith did an awful. He did an awful.
Oh I realized that Gervais never hosted the Oscars–my error. It was the Golden Globes he hosted and I’m sure he’ll never host the Oscars!
Gervais is greatness! XOXOXOXOXO
Yes, Rock spoke about GI Jane who is a powerful image. As much as we discuss it I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that Smith got up, walked on the stage and got violent. It’s thuggish one hundred per cent. Remember the Oscars when a streaker ran across the stage as David Niven was speaking? Let’s bring that back.
Totally agree. Love the witty way you get your points across!
Thank you!!!!!!!! XOXOXOXO
Very well put – agree completely.
Thank you Anne! XOXOXOXO
I agree the behavior was inexcusable. And the standing ovation. 🙄 But I don’t think he did it on purpose. Hear me out. Will is not stupid, and I don’t think he would purposely destroy his career. If he was thinking correctly, and hated Chris, he would have destroyed him in private, not on live TV. I believe he lost his mind for a moment. I had a similar incident at the hospital when my husband had a heart attack. I didn’t slug anyone, but I did yell and more (I’m afraid to ask even now) so they wouldn’t let me drive home or leave me unattended! I’m not defending his behavior, and I feel terrible for Chris. But Will hasn’t had this type of behavior before. And wether we like Will or Jada in their open marriage talk, shouldn’t have any influence on our judgment of the slap: if we liked them, give them a pass, and visa versa? He has truly apologized and I hope that was heartfelt. But I am not defending violence. Just a different view to ponder.
Hi Lisa, you raise a good point there. Something triggered Will Smith. I don’t think it was Rock’s statement simply because he was laughing at first. I honestly think his wife triggered him. There’s something amiss with their relationship–their “open” relationship and perhaps something had been building up. ….XOXOXO
I agree with you. I still don’t understand how you can assault someone and not have the police take you away. Isn’t the academy’s responsible for peoples safety? Will Smith is nothing but a self-centered bully.
Cinkylou, I agree completely. If someone streaked across the stage, they would be arrested for indecent exposure. But it was seemingly acceptable for Smith to assault Chris Rock. Go figure!! XOXOXO
I’m right there with you. Except I did watch the Oscars. Never again.
Right Cathe? It’ll be a long, long time until I watch an Academy Award Show again. LOL. I “missed ” the Grammy’s last night. I can’t take the Grammy’s either. Everyone trying to out weird each other. Ugh. XOXOXOXO
I agree with everything you say – I expect that Will Smith will become the new pariah of Hollywood as well he should be. And in all honesty, for all the things JPS has to say about a myriad of subjects her lack of condemnation of her husband’s violent attack implies that she’s OK with it. She just lost major points in my book. Lastly I have to say KUDOS to my hometown of Boston for showing Chris Rock so much love when he returned to the stage just 3 days later. He is a class act and deserved so much better than what he got from the Academy that night.
Deborah, she’s really remained mum on the subject and it really bothers me because Miss Thing was so vocal about her alopecia. She could have had a platform condemning her husband’s act then gone on about the various types of alopecia. Her’s isn’t bad.–and that peach fuzz proves it. Man, these self-important people get on my last nerve! XOXOXO
Remember when Jack Palance did his one armed pushup! We lived in a different world then.
Chris Rock surely handled the chaos with professionalism, poise and, in the end, generosity.
I’m curious how will this will affect Will Smith. Will he go away, face legal problems, like Weinstein? Fade from the scene like Kevin Spacey? Continue to work, find collaborators as Woody Allen has? Or will his infractions largely go unnoticed like J.K. Rowling’s trans comments?
I can’t imagine that Will Smith hadn’t been drinking or something. Or maybe he was channeling his most recent role? I haven’t seen the movie so I don’t know. Not sure I’ll see it even though I love the Williams sisters.
Btw, Willow Smith’s song Meet Me At Our Spot is one of those addictive little tunes that’s tough to dismiss, has lyrics that reflect that generation’s angst. It might be the signpost for what’s happening in the Smith world. I can’t imagine having the collective “talent”, wealth and public face of the Smith family without a couple of bumps in the road revealing themselves.
How did I forget the teflon coated Alec Baldwin in this discussion?
Hi Barbara,
I think he’ll lay low for a while and quite frankly, I would not be surprised if he and his wife divorce. Their marriage is a rather unusual one to put it mildly. Personally, I think he’s an egoist, a narcissict and ridiculously full of himself–the same goes for his wife. I mean..the guy was laughing untill the mrs. gave the side eye. Talk about who wears the pants in that relationship!!!
I haven’t heard that willow smith song. I’ll have to check it out! XOXOXOXO
I agree as well. Will Smith assaulted Rock and I wish he had been arrested. Not a fan of Rock’s humor, but he didn’t deserved to he slugged – particularly in that environment. And those losers going to the Smith’s to comfort them – I’m done with them too. Gross.
The problem is the world has a short memory. Before long the Smith’s will be back to thriving again and all is forgiven. But not by me.
That is one weird, toxic relationship the Smiths have and 9 out of 10 times ” open ” marriages/relationships simply DO NOT WORK.