It’s almost hard to believe it, but it’s been nearly one year since the 2022 Academy Awards, where Will Smith famously walked on stage and slapped Chris Rock over a joke he made about Jada Pinkett Smith’s appearance. The discourse surrounding the incident hasn’t stopped in the months that have passed, as the Academy Award winner began his comeback tour. Nearly a year later, Joe Rogan weighed in on whether people should forgive Smith for the Oscars slap.
Joe Rogan has a wildly popular podcast called The Joe Rogan Experience, which is often going viral thanks to his various hot takes. While he was originally quite critical of Will Smith after The Slap, it seems that time has softened his approach. In a recent episode he explained why he thinks that the Aladdin actor deserves to be forgiven for his very public transgression, saying:
Now thinking about [it], I’m like, that guy has to be forgiven. Like, he clearly has deep remorse for what he’s done. And he’s also clearly living in a world where he was given nothing but adulation and praise for most of his life. And then all of a sudden, he has this one, in many people’s eyes, unforgivable moment where he does something just so stupid. He’s a human being. You just gotta forgive him, you know? And I think the real person who has to forgive him — if he wants to is Chris Rock.
Well, there you have it. It looks like Joe Rogan thinks that Will Smith deserves to be welcomed back to Hollywood. Namely because he’s clearly so remorseful about his actions at last year’s Oscars ceremony. Additionally, Rogan is considering the years of Smith being an adored figure in the industry that generations of fans looked up to.
As previously mentioned, Joe Rogan’s comments on his recent podcast episode stands in juxtaposition to his original reaction to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock on TV. At the time he went on record saying that the actor/producer should have been kicked out of the Oscars after the slap, rather than being allowed to stay and accept the Best Actor award. Additionally, he made a bet that Will and Jada Pinkett Smith would be divorced before the end of the year. But it seems that time has helped change his perspective.
Despite the time that has passed, there is still plenty of ongoing discussion about Will Smith, Chris Rock, and the fallout from The Slap. The King Richard actor stayed out of the public eye for months, before eventually returning to social media and the outside world. His professional comeback seemingly began with the release of Antoine Fuqua’s Emancipation, which has the potential to be another Award Season favorite. We’ll just have to see if voters were able to separate Smith and the movie from his controversy. The material itself certainly is certainly powerful enough.
Emancipation is streaming on Apple TV+ now. Be sure to check out the 2023 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience. We’ll just have to watch and see if/how Will Smith’s career continues coming back from The Slap.