President Joe Biden might be the only person in America who didn’t see “the slap heard ’round the world.”
The White House on Tuesday said Biden “didn’t see” actor Will Smith slap comedian Chris Rock at the Academy Awards on Sunday and subsequently refused to offer any comment on the slap.
Simon Ateba, a journalist at Today News Africa, asked White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield about the slap, declaring it is “the biggest story right now.”
“You saw the level of violence that was unleashed on Chris Rock. Is that something that the White House condones — that type of violence? Do you condemn it? And do you do anything to support comedians who have been attacked and other artists?” Ateba asked.
“I don’t have any official comment from the White House on the altercation,” said Bedingfield, sitting in for Press Secretary Jen Psaki, who tested positive for COVID-19 last week.
“I know the president was not able to watch the Oscars — didn’t see it,” Bedingfield added. “So I don’t have anything. I don’t have any official comment from him or from the White House on this.”
But Ateba asked: “Do you condemn the violence at the Oscars? Is that something that you condemn?”
“I don’t have a White House comment on that,” Bedingfield said.
Rock was on the stage Sunday cracking wise about all the celebrities in the star-studded theater. Then he got to actor Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
“Jada, I love you, G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it. All right?” Rock said with his trademark laugh at his own punchline. The joke was a reference to a movie that starred Demi Moore as a Navy lieutenant in which the actress sports a shaved head. Jada Pinkett Smith, too, has a shaved head, because she suffers from alopecia.
While she rolled her eyes a bit and didn’t laugh, her husband guffawed heartily, a big smile on his face. “That was a nice one, OK?” Rock said.
“I’m out here –” Rock then said before breaking off. “Uh oh. Richard?” he said, referring to Will Smith’s part playing the father of Serena and Venus Williams’ father in “King Richard.”
Viewers couldn’t see yet, just Rock’s face on the TV screen, but as the camera pulled back, Smith, 6’2″, was striding up the stage toward Rock, 5’10”.
Smith took a mighty swipe, not with a fist but an open hand, toward Rock, still jutting his chin out and to the left. Slow-motion clips show it was a glancing blow.
“Oh wow,” Rock said. “Wow. Will Smith just smacked the s*** out of me,” he said.
The camera then cut to Smith, by now back in his seat. While TV bleeped what he was saying, uncensored versions show he said: “Keep my wife’s name out your f***ing mouth!”
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent, and ran the Drudge Report from 2010 to 2015. Send tips to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.
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Source: Dailywire
