Zoe Kravitz speaks her mind. When Hulu cancelled her adaptation of Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity after only one season, she shaded the streamer for its dearth of “shows starring women of color.” Now she’s using deep, angry sarcasm to weigh in on Will Smith’s instantly infamous slap of presenter Chris Rock at the Academy Awards.
To recap: Late in Sunday’s telecast — not long before Smith won an Oscar for King Richard — Rock, who was presenting the trophy for Best Picture, made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head. Her husband, who was initially seen laughing at the joke, suddenly stormed the stage and struck Rock across the face. Smith then screamed profanities at Rock, who struggled to get things back on track. (Smith’s antic also overshadowed the trophy’s winner, Summer of Soul, co-directed by fellow native Philadelphian Questlove.)
In the immediate wake of the incident, people were confused. But in the two days since, the tide appears to have turned definitively against Smith. Smith issued a formal apology (while Pinkett Smith released a cryptic statement), while everyone from 50 Cent to Jimmy Kimmel have weighed in, taking Rock’s side. Kravitz joined them.
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Over two separate Instagram posts, the The Batman actress shared what seemed to be innocuous photos of her Oscar and after party gowns…only to reveal it was really about Smith’s behavior. “here’s a picture of my dress at the show where we are apparently assaulting people on stage now,” she wrote in one. The other was almost the same. “and here is a picture of my dress at the party after the award show -where we are apparently screaming profanities and assaulting people on stage now.”
Sure enough, people found footage of Kravitz not standing up when Smith won not long after striking Rock.
she was the only one sitting down when will got his oscar pic.twitter.com/Iuguzkp5AH
— jonah (@settleghost) March 29, 2022
Rock refused to press charges against Smith, but others feel some action must be taken. Jim Carrey said Rock should sue Smith, while Joe Rogan claimed what Smith did sets a dangerous precedent for people reacting to comedians making jokes about other people. Smith, apology excepted, has been largely laying low, perhaps reflecting about how he’s spent decades immaculately polishing a brilliant career, which he may have torpedoed in about 30 seconds.
