Will Smith Smacking Chris Rock Taught Us All a Thing or Two
Life will always present you with problems.
We all have our demons.
While listening to Mark Manson talk about his experience writing Will Smith’s memoir, my mind kept coming back to the same thing.
Will Smith has done something I never have. He has slapped someone out of anger.
For years, Will Smith was idolized.
A net worth north of $300 million, and years of being an A-list celebrity, yet still, he could not control his anger when tested.
We learned that day that Will Smith is human like the rest of us.
We need to stop expecting so much from others.
I remember watching Will Smith slap Chris Rock. Immediately I thought – that was fake.
There was no way that Will Smith, this seemingly amazing guy, would slap Chris Rock, a legendary comedian, for making what everyone knew was a joke.
When I realized it wasn’t fake, I felt let down.
There are few celebrities that we believe to be good.
Keanu Reeves is an obvious one.
And then there are guys like Manny Pacquiao who spends millions giving back to his community.
To me, Will Smith always came off like one of those guys.
He’s legendary for his hit TV show, Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Will made all our hearts melt during Season 4, episode 24 when he breaks down crying in Uncle Phil’s arms.
How could a guy like that slap a comedian?
The same guy who won a Grammy for rap performance of the year, without cursing once in a time when everyone swore on their records.
It’s clear that no matter how well you think you know a celebrity, you are still placing unrealistic expectations and assumptions on them.
If we place unrealistic expectations on celebrities, what does that say about the expectations we place on the people closest to us?
Life will always test us
It doesn’t matter how successful you become, the tests will still come at you.
Not only was Will Smith tested that day, but Chris Rock was too.
A stand-up comedian is not used to being smacked on stage for making a joke – especially not by another comedian.
Chris Rock kept his cool and kept performing. Will Smith lost his cool and reacted emotionally.
Both of these men have reached the top of their game.
Both were tested, and while one passed, the other failed.
The heights you reach do not change the most simple fact of life.
We are all students, and we must never stop learning. And the moment we think we’ve made it, we get hit with a harder test.
It’s never too late to lose it all.
You could be learning all of the wisest lessons from the greats and have access to anything you want, but when you are tested, all of your teachings can go out the window.
It only took one joke for Will Smith to put his entire reputation on the line.
If it can happen to him, it can happen to any of us.
We need to keep learning and keep growing
Will Smith screwed up, he failed the test, but that’s okay. We all screw up from time to time. What matters most is what happens next.
Ultimately, forgiveness is up to Chris Rock, but learning is up to Will Smith.
I don’t know whether Chris Rock forgave him or not.
If he did, good on him because that shows growth. If he didn’t, it’ll likely bother him for years to come and will mean that although he passed the first test, he failed the second.
Keeping your cool is one thing. Forgiving and moving on is another.
Did Will Smith learn his lesson?
We’d certainly hope so.
Whether he likes it or not, he is a role model for many people, and that day, he set a bad example.
If he learns from this and grows from it, then he can continue to be a good role model.
That is how we have to approach any mistake.
We learn and then we grow.
Conclusion
I don’t like paying attention to the actions of celebrities. Our news feeds are littered with useless information about who is dating whom, and so on.
But, once in a while, something unignorable happens. In those moments, we can learn a lot.
Although this happened 2 years ago, we will never hear the end of it.
It marks the day when we all witnessed the “Fresh Prince” lose his cool in front of millions of people.
It will also go down as the day we all learned that no matter how much we achieve, life will still test us.
Thanks for reading