By now, we’ve all heard of Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at this year’s Oscars ceremony, and we’ve all been witness to at least 156 memes — like this one showing Oscar from “Shark Tale” slapping Marty the zebra from “Madagascar,” animated characters the actors voiced (actually genius).

Meanwhile, one Twitter user wrote, “first [Oscar] won by trial by combat,” while others just weren’t as shocked. One user explained, “sometimes i forget that not everyone went to a public high school where the fistfights started at 7:25am EST,” and we’ve never felt more seen in our lives. 

Still, the situation is far more complex than it seems.

As you probably already know, Chris Rock compared Jada Pinkett Smith to G.I. Jane, a character known for having a shaved head, which led to Smith slapping Rock and saying: “keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth.” Pinkett Smith has alopecia, a condition that causes hair loss, which can be particularly difficult for women when it comes to feeling confident or beautiful in a world that tells us long hair is specifically feminine. The actress first talked about her alopecia on her show “Red Table Talk,” saying losing hair was “terrifying,” and a “really scary experience.” 

While most people do not condone Smith’s physical violence towards Rock, many have defended his actions: as one Twitter user put it, “People are so used to Black women being unprotected & the butt of the joke that I think a lot of this shock is really about her being treated as someone who deserved protection.”

Still, many Hollywood stars have loudly spoken out against Smith’s slap, including the comedian Jim Carrey — but now fans are calling him out for his own past.

So what went down? Carrey went on CBS Mornings with Gayle King and talked about how “sickened” he was at the standing ovation for Smith when he won his Oscar.

The comedian said, “Hollywood is just spineless,” explaining that Smith “should’ve been” arrested after the slap. Even more? Although Rock has not pressed charges for the slap, Carrey said he would sue Smith “for $200 million, because that video is going to be there forever.” 

As per Carrey, yelling from the audience or sending out a tweet in response is okay, but “you do not have the right to walk up on stage and smack someone in the face because they said words.” The comedian said, “Will has something going on inside him that’s frustrated… I wish him the best… I don’t have anything against Will Smith, he’s done great things. But that was not a great moment.” His biggest concern seemed to be the other nominees, explaining, “a lot of people worked really hard to get to that place… [Smith’s slap] was just a selfish moment that cast a pall over the whole thing.”

While some fans are questioning why Carrey was interviewed on the subject at all, many are pulling out receipts from the comedian’s past that show his judgment is extremely hypocritical.

The biggest red flag? The fact that Carrey actually tried to kiss Smith without consent at the 1997 MTV Movie Awards after Smith won the award for Best Kiss. An unearthed video shows Smith looking visibly uncomfortable, forcibly trying to avoid being kissed. 

Even worse? Carrey actually assaulted actress Alicia Silverstone onstage that same night, after she presented his award for Best Comedic Performance.

As videos show, the comedian walks up onstage, grabs Silverstone by the face and kisses her — afterwards, you can see her wincing in distress in the background.

As a Twitter user wrote, “Jim Carrey tried to French kiss Will Smith at the MTV movie awards and he kissed Alicia Silverstone without her consent at the same award show… he should be minding his own business.”

In short, it’s not about condoning or supporting Smith’s physical violence towards Rock — but examining crucial biases and the layers to the conversation is imperative.

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