As a comedian, an actor, a former host of the Oscars, and a current member of the Academy’s Board of Governors, Whoopi Goldberg is, for once, uniquely qualified to comment on something that is in the news — the infamous Will Smith Oscars slap — and she wants people to stop lumping everyone who works in the entertainment industry in with the “Hollywood elite,” who many blame for allowing Smith’s assault of comedian Chris Rock at the Academy Awards to slide.
“The fact that he was kind of just whooping it up afterward, he was at the Vanity Fair party, there’s video of him just having a good old time, and then the public pressure comes down and the PR people come in, so [Smith’s apology] felt less authentic in-the-moment for me at least, and I’m a Will Smith fan,” guest co-host Tara Setmayer said on “The View” Thursday.
“But I also look at this from a bigger picture where, what message does this send? There was a certain amount of intransigence and arrogance on his part,” Setmayer continued.
“This is different than him just wigging out or just screaming at someone. He physically assaulted someone, and in this day and age where we see this happening, not only in Hollywood — we see it happening in politics, too, we see it happening at school board meetings — it gives people a permission structure for people to act badly.”
What's next for #WillSmith following the Oscars? #TheView panel discusses possible repercussions after what happened between him and #ChrisRock. https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA pic.twitter.com/1YftERmMR8
— The View (@TheView) March 31, 2022
As BPR reported, Smith did issue a public apology to Rock, stating he was “out of line” and “wrong,” and that his embarrassing actions “were not indicative of the man I want to be.”
The apology came after the Academy admitted it could have handled the situation better and was launching a full review of the incident.
“It was an assault,” Setmayer said later in the show. “So I kind of feel like there’s an — I think there needs to be a lot of self-reflection in Hollywood.”
Goldberg reminded the panel that the Oscars are live and crazy things happen during live broadcasts, making it difficult to see, in real-time, all that may have occurred.
“But then they gave him a standing ovation though, Whoopi, which I think again goes back to why some people feel like Hollywood elites are a bunch of hypocrites,” Setmayer argued. “Because they go out there and give these statements of moral superiority about things, and political statements, and then they’re standing … doing a standing ovation after he just assaulted Chris Rock!”
While Goldberg said she would not have chosen to stand, she is tired of people going on about the “Hollywood elite,” a group to which she admittedly belongs.
“I’m just — I just want to stop with this ‘elite’ stuff because, you know, a lot of us work for a living. We work. We collect a check. We got families. We try to do the same thing, the good stuff that everybody else tries to do,” Goldberg stated. “And it really pisses me off when people start to talk about people who work in Hollywood, not just the actors, but all the other folks.”
“So please, when you are talking about actors, be specific,” Goldberg continued. “If you’re pissed off about somebody or how they act, don’t put it on all of us, cause that’s like saying all black people like chicken.”
So, don’t judge an entire group of people and slap them all with a negative label based on the actions of a few?
It’s sound advice.
Perhaps the ladies of “The View” will take it the next time they discuss conservative Americans.
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Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan. Melissa currently lives with her dog and two cats in a tiny town in the Sierra
Nevada foothills.
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