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Journalism of Courage
At the biggest awards night in Hollywood, the Oscars, it wasn’t about moving speeches or stunning red carpet looks that dominated the conversation online. Instead, it was a rather unexpected event that left all stunned—WillSmith slapping host Chris Rock over a comment about Jada Pinkett Smith.
However, one person tweeted about Smith and Rock already in 2016 and now it’s going viral. “Will Smith has to punch Chris Rock in the face …. He has no choice,” Twitter user, Jason, wrote on February 29, 2016, with no context.
Six years down the line, the tweet became a reality at one of the entertainment industry’s most coveted award shows. Jason shared his poorly aged, prophecy tweet again writing simply: “Well…”
https://twitter.com/_ja_s_on_/status/1508282495141302279
As Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s hairstyle and said he was looking forward to a sequel to G.I. Jane, a visibly miffed Smith lost his temper. He walked toward the stage and did the unthinkable leaving everyone shocked and wondering if it was scripted.
As #WhatJustHappened trended worldwide with the audience in the auditorium and back at homes trying to wrap their heads around Smith’s action, leaving most divided—the 2016 tweet about a heated exchange between the two stars started gaining attention.
As the old tweet left netizens in a frenzy, the user later explained that it was about Rock making a joke about Smith’s wife even during the 2016 Oscars.
https://twitter.com/_ja_s_on_/status/1508303047155404803
Amused by his prophecy, some joked they should ask him “what stocks to buy”, wondering if there were other predictions he had made. The rest of them couldn’t stop reacting with memes and jokes.
https://twitter.com/BestofthebestR7/status/1508291240223072264
https://twitter.com/DocPlaguey/status/1508300711511007236
https://twitter.com/LivingScribe/status/1508299862739140611
https://twitter.com/John_FknStewart/status/1508342703213494272
As people understood why Smith was angry and lauded him for standing up for his wife, they also stressed that violence is never acceptable. Smith later apologised for his outburst while accepting the Oscars for Best Actor.
