Ricky Gervais Posts Offensive Jokes In Response To Will Smith Slap

Ricky Gervais is the latest celebrity to throw his hat into the ring regarding Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars. While the 94th Academy Awards saw a substantial bump in ratings compared to 2021’s record-low performance, criticisms abounded, and controversy followed the broadcast even after it went off the air. In a moment that has had the Internet buzzing for days, Best Actor winner Will Smith got on stage and physically struck presenter Chris Rock with an open palm after Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

The social media community, including numerous celebrities, has since settled into two sides of the subsequent debate about whether or not Smith was justified in his actions. One side disapproves of the display of violence, while the other praises Smith for standing up for his spouse. Smith’s son, Jaden, is naturally one such supporter. Then, in the middle of the moralistic debate about violence lies a neutral subset of fans and celebrities who instead make light of the situation. The entire ordeal stemmed from a joke Rock made about Pinkett Smith as G.I. Jane, a female Navy trainee (played by Demi Moore in the movie of the same name) sporting a shaved head.

SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY

The comparison drew the ire of Smith and his wife due to her suffering from a medical condition known as alopecia, a disease that causes hair loss. Gervais took to Twitter via the David Brent Music account, referencing this exact illness with a convenient clip from the UK Office. In it, his character in the show, David Brent, mentions somebody’s wife having alopecia, resulting in “not a happy homelife.” Given the timeliness of the tweet, it was a direct reference to the Oscars confrontation and an offensive one given Pinkett Smith’s involuntary medical condition. Check out the tweet in question below:

Click to see original post.

Other comedians, like James Corden, also responded to the situation jokingly, though perhaps more tastefully than Gervais. The Office star has a long history of being crass and nonconformist, falling in line with celebrities like Dave Chappelle, who feel that nothing is off-limits in comedy. Gervais led up to the inappropriate tweet with a series of other posts about the situation, sharing memes and writing a fictional conversation between Rock and the Academy about his joke, and continued to trivialize the event after posting the clip.

Alopecia adversely affects nearly 150 million people worldwide, so Gervais’s approach to the source of people’s displeasure with Rock is particularly unempathetic and mean, even if intended to be humorous. It wouldn’t be the first time the actor was in the spotlight for his inappropriate remarks. Pinkett Smith, meanwhile, broke her silence about the situation and declared a “season of healing” following her husband’s public apology to Rock and the Academy. It’s unclear whether or not Gervais supports these statements or what his real views on the situation are, but viewers are already admonishing him for his insensitive response.

Source: David Brent Music

Spider-Man 4 Fan Poster Has Perfect Title For Tom Holland’s Next MCU Movie

About The Author

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *