Reps. Ayanna Pressley and Jamaal Bowman on Sunday evening posted and then promptly deleted tweets apparently in defense of actor Will Smith for slapping comedian Chris Rock onstage at the Oscars after a joke at Smith’s wife’s expense.
After deleting her initial response, Pressley wrote in a new series of tweets that she does not condone violence in any form.
“#Alopecia nation stand up! Thank you #WillSmith,” Pressley, of Massachusetts, wrote in one deleted tweet. “Shout out to all the husbands who defend their wives living with alopecia in the face of daily ignorance & insults.”
“Women with baldies are for real men only … boys need not apply,” she added in another.
REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS NIXING TRANS SPORTS BANS REVEAL PARTY SPLIT
Just-deleted tweet from Rep. Ayanna Pressley #mapoli #Oscars pic.twitter.com/gGFlStTQ3D
— Grace Panetta (@grace_panetta) March 28, 2022
Pressley disclosed in January 2020 that she has alopecia areata, a condition that results in hair loss.
In new tweets posted later on Monday, Pressley wrote she does not condone violence “in any form.”
Let’s talk about what it’s like to live with #alopecia. The deeply vulnerable & difficult moments that our families see. Appreciation post for those who hold us down & support us when we’re at our lowest points. They see us, fully. #IYKYK pic.twitter.com/vITnxgCn9f
— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) March 28, 2022
“Our bodies are not public domain,” she wrote. “They are not a line in a joke — especially when the transformation is not of our choosing.”
Earlier this month, the House passed the CROWN Act, legislation co-led by Pressley, to ban race-based hair discrimination.
In a subsequently deleted tweet, Bowman called the viral Oscars incident a “teachable moment” showing not to mock a black woman’s hair.
Jamaal Bowman also briefly tweeted about Will Smith assaulting Chris Rock before deleting it pic.twitter.com/KLKXbI4o9E
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) March 28, 2022
Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, disclosed her own alopecia diagnosis in 2018.
At the Sunday evening awards ceremony, Rock acknowledged Pinkett Smith in the audience and said, “Jada, I love you. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see you, all right.”
Smith initially appeared amused, while Pinkett Smith did not. Smith then walked onto the stage and slapped Rock across the face.
“Oh, wow,” an apparently stunned Rock said. “Will Smith just smacked the s*** out of me.”
Smith yelled at Rock, telling him not to talk about his wife. Later that evening, the actor accepted an award for best actor for his performance in King Richard, a film about the coach and father of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams. The award was his first Oscar.
In a speech accepting the award, Smith apologized to the Academy and his fellow nominees for his earlier behavior. He said fellow actor Denzel Washington advised him, “At your highest moment, be careful. That’s when the devil comes for you.”
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“Love will make you do crazy things,” he said, adding, “I hope the Academy invites me back.”
