An MSNBC host says that to center the discussion on actor Will Smith slapping comedian Chris Rock around the opinions of white people is “ridiculous.”
Tiffany Cross, host of The Cross Connection, made the comment while discussing the shocking moment at the 94th Academy Awards with actress Yvette Nicole Brown and writer Michael Harriot on Saturday. She used an analogy of the three of them attending dinner at a white family’s home.
If the mother slapped the father at the table and Cross vocally criticized her for it, the family would react by saying, “When did you get an opinion? This is our family table,” she said. Cross added that “there is a nuance” with the discourse of what happened between Smith and Rock.
“I want to be really clear while we talk about family talk,” Cross said. “I think it is utterly ridiculous to center this conversation in the opinions of white folks. This is just about what happened there. The jumping off point should not be what might the white people think about it. It is just this moment between those two men.”
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Cross went on to say that Smith acted “like a bully” when he slapped Rock, calling his performance that night “completely uncalled for.”
Smith has apologized for the slap, which came after Rock made a joke mocking the bald appearance of his wife, actress Jada Pinkett Smith, who has alopecia, and resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Friday, describing his actions as “shocking, painful, and inexcusable.” Several of his projects have been placed on hold following his slap.
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Rock said he was “still kind of processing what happened” on Wednesday, adding that he would talk about what happened at some point in the future.
