This may be the first and last time I elevate Fox News’ criticisms. UPDATED.
Sure, Fox News weaponized Will Smith punching Chris Rock at the Academy Awards ceremony last night. But when a guy goes on stage to punch another guy on stage over a joke, is allowed to remain in the audience, wins a major award, talks about love in his acceptance speech and the Academy claims it doesn’t condone violence – when it just did exactly that – well, folks, you have it coming.
That said, Rock’s joke was horrible and Fox’s pretense at taking the high ground, when this is the network that pretends the far-worse January 6th insurrection was no biggie and allowed Trump to call it "a lovefest" is just inexcusable. But I’ll have more on that in my next post.
Oh, and I agree that Smith’s Oscar should be rescinded. Pronto. The Academy put out a statement while I was writing this post, saying, "The Academy condemns the actions of Mr. Smith at last night’s show. We have officially started a formal review around the incident and will explore further action and consequences in accordance with our Bylaws, Standards of Conduct and California law." Oh, please.
You can watch Hollywood reap what it sowed below, from the March 28, 2022 Outnumbered.
8:56 PM UPDATE: Nearly 24 hours later, after the Academy opened its "formal review" Smith tried to save his Oscar and maybe his career decided he was wrong and owed Rock an apology.
JUST IN: Will Smith issued an apology to Chris Rock. In his statement, Smith said what he did was unacceptable & inexcusable. He also apologized to The Academy.
— MJ Felipe (@mjfelipe) March 28, 2022
He adds, 'I deeply regret that my behavior has stained what has been an otherwise gorgeous journey for all of us.' pic.twitter.com/YLj4ZZTwoo
