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Will Smith’s pimp slapping of Chris Rock this past Sunday night at the Academy Awards is still reverberating across the entertainment industry and across the culture alike and while everyone has their opinions on the matter, ultimately it can be understood from both sides of the field.
After days of celebrities taking to social media to express their support or disgust for Will Smith’s actions, actress Janet Hubert is the latest to come to Will Smith’s defense at a time when social media has decided to come for the iconic actor. Entertainment Weekly is reporting that the OG Aunt Vivian from the first three seasons of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air came to the defense of Smith on her IG page even though their relationship hadn’t been the best over the decades.
“So PROUD OF YOU!” Hubert wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of Smith giving his acceptance speech. “Yes, there is only so much one can take…sometimes you have to slap back. Celebrate the win…nothing else matters. Both actions were incorrect but Chris didn’t need to go there.” Hubert also went on to throw some of her own shade at Rock, finishing the post by saying, “Met him once…. it was enough for me…. very mean spirited.”
She might be the only celebrity to have something negative to say about Chris Rock. Least to our knowledge.
Naturally many social media users came for Aunt Viv for daring to stick up for Will Smith and while many other celebs might’ve walked back or re-worded their original statement, Aunt Viv was ready for all the smoke and took to IG to let off on her naysayers. Defending her actions, Huber bluntly stated “Will Smith is a grown a** man and I’m a grown a**, old a** woman. He ain’t telling me what to say. I don’t got to kiss anyone’s a** but I will kick it.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CbsWZrhjENv/?utm_medium=copy_link
Just more confirmation that she’s a ride-or-die type of woman. Respect.
While Will Smith did ultimately apologize to Chris Rock, that moment will forever live in infamy and actually might’ve done more damage to Smith’s reputation than Rock’s. After the slap hear ’round the world, tickets for Chris Rock’s tour began to sell like hotcakes. Will Smith meanwhile, well, has he been offered any new movie roles since Sunday? Just sayin.’
Now that we’ve had a few days to digest Sunday’s night’s shocking moment, where do y’all stand on Will Smith slapping fire out of Chris Rock at The Oscars? Was he in the right or should he have saved it for August Alsina? Let us know in the comment section below.
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