Twitter lashes out at wrong Will Smith, asks podcaster to apologise for hitting Chris Rock

Actor Will Smith hitting comedian Chris Rock on stage has become the biggest talking point of this year’s Oscars. The award ceremony that took place on Sunday left fans shocked as the actor stepped on stage and hit host Chris Rock during his monologue mid-show for a joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith. The event has become an internet sensation with videos from the live event as well as memes on the same doing rounds on social media.

The action that happened at the Academy Awards also led way to discussions with fans taking sides. While many slammed Rock for his joke on Jada Pinkett Smith, others attacked Smith for hitting the comedian on stage while the world watched. The criticism for Smith mounted on Twitter as angry fans tagged him on their reactions. However, it also took an interesting turn as several fans began tagging the wrong Will Smith on tweets criticising the actor’s actions.

Angry fans took to Twitter to address their grievances and several mistakenly tagged the wrong Will Smith. Several Twitter users tagged an account of a podcaster and video game creator by the name “Will Smith”. Intriguingly, the podcaster and online gamer also have a verified Twitter account, which in turn added to the confusion. The account got the heat for the award-winning actor’s actions as many tweeted strong-worded messages asking him to apologise to Chris Rock.

I’m not the person you’re upset/happy with: Will Smith's namesake tweeted

Following this, Will Smith’s namesake came online to clear the doubts over the confusion. At first, he cracked a few jokes about the mistake and then went on to clarify that he wasn’t the actor Will Smith. “Real talk, I’m not the person you’re upset/happy with. I make podcasts and video games for a living,” the podcaster tweeted.

Furthermore, he went on to add that people should stop using violent words in conversations implying that he read the strong messages aimed at his account. “At the risk of making people pissed off at me instead of that other guy, the world would be a better place if we stopped answering words with violence,” Will Smith’s namesake tweeted. Many users came out in support of the podcaster after he made the post.

Will Smith slaps Chris Rock at the Oscars 2022

Chris Rock was slapped hard by Will Smith on the stage after the former joked about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith to play the titular in GI Jane 2.  For the unknown, Rock’s joke referred to the popular 1997 film GI Jane, in which actor Demi Moore played the titular role with a buzzcut. Chris poked fun and asked Jada Pinkett Smith to play the titular role, considering her baldness which is due to a disease. She had previously spoken about having a hair loss condition, alopecia.

Moments after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock over the 'GI Jane' remark, the actor issued an apology for his aggressive behaviour on the stage during his speech. Will Smith said, "I'm being called on in my life to love people and to protect people and to be a river to my people... You got to be able to take abuse, you got to be able to have people talk crazy about you. In this business, you got to be able to have people disrespecting you and you got to smile and you got to pretend like that's okay." He further mentioned a brief chat with Denzel Washington, who told him to be careful at his highest moment as "that's when the devil comes for you."

Image: AP