Will Smith is Reportedly 'Embarrassed and Hurt' by Chris Rock's Jokes About Him

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Being a celebrated actor with hundreds of entries on your IMDb page, millions in the bank, fame, adulation and awards is not all it's cracked up to be. Life isn't all just Cadillac Escalades dropping you off at the red carpet, collecting your $100,000 gift bag and getting your ass kissed. Yes, there's a lot of that. But it comes at a cost. And sometimes that cost is being the butt of jokes. And that's not always an easy thing to accept.

First it was Jada Pinkett Smith:

Now it's her husband. The one with the Best Actor Oscar Chris Rock is joking about like it's his job:

Source - Will Smith is said to be 'embarrassed and hurt' by Chris Rock's decision to base a new Netflix special on their notorious clash at the 94th annual Academy Awards. …

Sources have since told Entertainment Tonight that Smith has been deeply affected by the Netflix special, and is keen for Rock to 'let it go.' 

While reportedly hurt and embarrassed by Selective Outrage, the outlet claims Smith is yet to actually watch it and has instead been informed of its content from those who have. 

Rock has accused the Oscar-winner of having 'selective outrage' during the show's finale and added salt to the wound by rehashing Pinkett-Smith's well documented infidelity. 

'Chris never got a one-on-one private apology from Will, only the public one which really meant nothing,' a source close to the comedian insisted. In fact, Will has only addressed the situation twice - once on Instagram the day after the Oscars and once in a video apology.

We can all just state the obvious and point out that the best way to avoid the embarrassment and pain of being the subject of savagely funny Chris Rock bits is not to slap Chris Rock. Either in private or in front of the entire world. Like simply avoid laying your hands on the man, and you've pretty much got that problem beat, it would seem. 

Then, it's fair to ask what is more embarrassing and hurtful: Being made into a punchline or taking an open hand to the face on TV? I've been the butt of more jokes than I can possibly count, for as long as I can remember. From my brothers and sister, my best friends, strangers, the entire internet, and most of all myself. And as long as the insults are actually funny (I mean, put in some effort at the very least), I'll take them all day every day over getting emasculated with a palm across my cheek. Hell, I'd rather take a fist to the eye than that. Because there's just something about a slap that robs you of your manhood that you can't get back if you don't respond:

But Chris Rock responded. Not physically; like he says in Selective Outrage, Smith is way bigger than him. And jacked enough to play Muhammad Ali. So he fired back with the most effective weapon he's got. A weapon which is better than virtually anybody else's in the world. Rock brought 30 years of comedy and a Netflix special to a slap fight. And he's not about to lose that battle. 

But all that said, I suppose we should appreciate that Smith is actually capable of being "embarrassed and hurt." Not enough to have thought about it at the time, stayed in his seat and told Rock to his face off the air that the GI Jane bit was out of line. And certainly not to have apologized to him in private, man to man. It's just that we have to grade these things on a curve. 

When a guy is not too embarrassed or hurt by the fact his wife is openly cucking him to sit with her on camera and listen to her talk about it:

… then the fact he's able to feel any level of embarrassment about anything is a plus. It makes him slightly more human than that automoton who sat at that table listening to his wife brag about her "entanglement" and just took it. At least embarrassment and hurt are actual emotions. And I was beginning to think Fresh Prince was only capable of displaying the acting kind. 

The takeaway from all of this is don't physically assault comedians if you can't handle being made fun of. Humor a comic's weapon. Expecting one not write jokes about you is like going after someone holding a loaded crossbow and expecting them not to put a bolt right into your 10-ring. But thanks to Will Smith I guess, for picking the exact wrong guy to attack.