agreed- the academy of awards could be doing it to boost ratings for next year- I’m just very suspect of hollywierd and their antics- and all their ‘reality shows’ that are staged to the max-
The whole incident was bizarre and off-putting - but it still may have been staged.
My number-one argument for it being staged? If it had been spontaneous (authentic), Chris Rock would have handled it far better. He would have MILKED it for all it was worth.
Chris Rock is a true stand-up comic, and has handled hecklers before (though I doubt that he has ever been physically assaulted on stage before), and would have instantly come back with a rapid-fire delivery of four or five zingers that would have totally humiliated Will Smith.
If someone slaps me - even on stage, before millions of people - I would not go silent, then mutter a few half-hearted no-meaning words like, "This was the greatest NIGHT in Oscar history."
After Will Smith's SECOND "Don't put my wife's name in your f*ckin' mouth," Rock should have replied, "Jada Pinkett is a respected blah-blah-blah, and I'm sure that she understands that a Don-Rickles-type comic is only trying to go for a laugh blah-blah. Jada Pinkett is certainly BIG enough to take a harmless joke. Blah-blah. And I'm sure that Jada Pinkett will agree that kids at home who have seen this blah-blah..."
Do you think that Will Smith would have dared go up on the stage a second time?!
Regards,