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Joe Rogan has given his two cents on the moment Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at The Oscars for making a "mild joke" about wife Jada Pinkett-Smith. You can watch the YouTube clip from PowerfulJRE below.
If you are one of the few people to have missed the controversial moment at this year's Academy Awards, then here's a quick breakdown of what happened.
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Chris Rock was presenting the award for 'Best Documentary' when he made a GI Jane joke about Will Smith's wife Jada, who has been open about her battle with alopecia.
Smith then proceeded to get up out of his seat and hit Rock across the face. The American actor then went on to win the best actor award for his role in King Richard, where he apologised to ‘the Academy’ and his ‘fellow nominees’.
Many have since reacted to the moment, including Joe Rogan, who says Smith was being "emotionally fragile" and "acted on impulse" in the moment.
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"It's a foolish impulse that you do when you know that there's no consequences," Rogan said on his podcast alongside guest Josh Barnett.
"You don't go and sit in the front row as a star at the Oscars... there's a professional comedian whose job is to roast people, what he did was not even insulting. It was a mild joke.
Rogan continued: "The idea that you think it's smart while you're wearing a tuxedo to walk onto a stage in front of the world - literally the world, one of the biggest award shows on earth - and smack a comedian for the most mild joke. And then sit there quivering, saying 'Keep my wife's name out of your f**king mouth!' And everyone's just going to sit there in the s**t that you just took on the table.
"You just pulled your pants down and took a s**t on the dinner table and everyone has to just sit there and look at that."
Rogan went on to say that Smith's actions have set a dangerous precedent "in many different ways."
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“It’s a rare instance that someone [is] so enormously famous and successful like Will Smith that they literally still allowed him to not just win the Academy Award, but also go up and accept it and give a speech after he assaulted a small comedian on stage.
“You can’t just go smack a man in the face in front of the world and then go about business as usual.
"It sets a terrible precedent in so many different ways. It sets a terrible precedent for comedy clubs. Like, are people going to decide to go on stage and smack a comedian now?
“I don’t necessarily think people are going to change their behavior but dumb people might.
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"But also it’s like what are we saying as a society when the people that we look up to, for whatever reason, for good or for bad, we look up to actors. And the Academy Awards is supposed to be them in their most regal outfits, their best behavior and to drop down to violence for something so innocuous as a G.I. Jane joke.”
Rogan added: "These people live in this fake world of, you know, you’re protected by guards, you’re driven by limos, you’re on the red carpet, like all of it is crazy life.
"And he’s so God damn famous, and so removed from regular discourse and interaction with regular people, that he, for whatever reason in his head, acted like he’s a character in a movie.”
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Smith later released a public apology to Chris Rock after slapping him in the face at the Oscars.
"Violence in all of its form is poisonous and destructive," he wrote in a post on Instagram. "My behavior at last night's Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada's medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally.
"I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.
"I would also like to apologize to the Academy, the producers of the show, all the attendees and everyone watching around the world. I would like to apologize to the Williams Family and my King Richard Family. I deeply regret that my behavior has stained what has been an otherwise gorgeous journey for all of us. I am a work in progress."
Featured Image Credit: PowerfulJRE/ABCTopics: Joe Rogan
