Will Smith slapped Chris Rock

I went through five stages of reaction [READER]( From the moment Will Smith slapped Chris Rock in the face at Sunday’s Academy Awards, I went through five stages of reaction—which is sorta like Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s five stages of grief. Starting with . . . What the fuck! Or what Kübler-Ross calls denial. As in . . . Did that really happen? Did I really see that? Was it a gag? A fake? Something Smith and Rock cooked up to bring attention to themselves? And moving on to . . . Damn you, Will Smith! Or anger. As in . . . Smith’s messing up Questlove’s big moment. After all, Chris Rock was on stage to present the Oscar for best documentary, which Questlove won for Summer of Soul, about the iconic concerts in Harlem in the summer of ‘69. So this moment was not about you, Will Smith. Or your wife. Or your beef with Chris Rock. It was about Questlove’s great achievement. And Stevie Wonder. And Gladys Knight & the Pips. And the Fifth Dimension. And everyone else you upstaged with your hissy fit cause you still haven’t gotten over the jokes Rock made about you at the 2016 Oscars. And it’s really just misdirected anger at August Alsina. Moving on to . . . Well, maybe Will Smith had a point. Or bargaining. As in . . . It was a tasteless joke. And Chris Rock had to have known that Jada Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia, a condition where people lose their hair. And she must be feeling vulnerable about it—even rich ‘n famous celebrities feel vulnerable. And Rock just humiliated her in front of millions of people with his joke. That can’t feel good. I know I wouldn’t want to be humiliated in front of anyone. Which reminds me . . . please disregard any spelling errors you might see in this post. I’m still feeling particularly vulnerable about the last errors I committed. Moving on to . . . Oh, no, the midterm elections! Or depression. As in . . . You watch, MAGA will weaponize this moment against Black people. Like they weaponize everything against Black people—even if it has nothing to do with Black people—in order to scare white people into voting for MAGA. So the real victims of Smith slapping Rock will not be Smith or Rock but millions and millions of ordinary people without the money to insulate themselves from the consequences of MAGA. Moving on to . . . Sigh. Or acceptance. As in . . . Well, at least, Will Smith gave me something to write about. 🗣️ Have you checked out our newest merch in the Reader Store? Show some love to our Executive Assistant Sandra, modeling one of our exclusive sweatshirts! She stays busy and stylish at the Reader office. [Shop now!]( 👇 Jennifer Haigh’s novel [Heat and Light](. Glad I finally found my way to the novels of Haigh. She’s so freaking talented. Can’t wait to read her latest. [Terrance Weeden]( must invest in communities to counter gun violence. [Ben Joravsky]( Senator Rob Martwick must be doing something right to have so many enemies. Alderperson [Jeanette Taylor]( on all things Chicago politics WBEZ reporter [Linda Lutton]( on some of her favorite stories [Laurie Glenn and Juanita Irizarry]( on Chicago’s casino Listen to [The Ben Joravsky Show]( [Summer Walker’s songs invite you to learn from their missteps in love]( by [Janaya Greene]( [Chicago Academy for the Arts students debut TV pilot at Music Box Theatre]( Local students move to the big screen to premiere their lighthearted TV pilot. by [Janaya Greene]( [Issue of March 16 - 31, 2022 Vol. 51, No.]( [Download Issue]( [View this e-mail as a web page]( [@chicago_reader]( [/chicagoreader]( [@chicago_reader]( [Chicago Reader on LinkedIn]( [/chicagoreader]( [chicagoreader.com]( [Forward this e-mail to a friend](. Want to change how you receive these e-mails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](. Copyright © 2022 Chicago Reader, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Chicago Reader, 2930 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 102, Chicago, IL 60616