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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Tina Campbell

Katherine Ryan says Will Smith should ‘stay home’ if he can’t take a joke after Oscars slap

Katherine Ryan gave Will Smith a dressing down as she delivered her opinion on him slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars.

The Men In Black star sent shockwaves through the showbiz world when he stormed the stage and struck Rock after the comedian jokingly compared Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith to GI Jane.

Pinkett Smith has openly spoken about losing her hair due to autoimmune condition alopecia which is why she wears her hair cropped.

Will Smith, right, hits presenter Chris Rock on stage while presenting the award for best documentary feature at the Oscars (Chris Pizzello/AP) (AP)

Ryan, 38, gave her opinion on the Oscars slap when she opened up a discussion via Instagram Stories.

Sharing screenshots of the replies that she received, one read: “I don’t condone what he did, violence is never the answer but just because Chris is a ‘comedian’, it means Will has to sit and watch his wife be insulted? Chris shouldn’t have said it, Will shouldn’t have hit him.”

The comedienne responded: “Yes, he has to sit and watch his wife be insulted, yes that’s the point of the celeb monologue.”

She added: “Can’t take a joke, stay home.”

Another decided to highlight the politics of Rock’s joke. The fan wrote: “I felt the same initially about Smith (get back in your box, dude) but the focus on the slap itself and not the humiliation of a Black woman with a condition on a world stage surely isn’t being given enough focus?”

Chris Rock was reportedly unaware the subject of his joke Jada Pinkett Smith suffered with alopecia (Getty)

The Duchess star responded: “Yes I know and maybe you don’t know that CHRIS ROCK MADE AN ENTIRE DOCUMENTARY CALLED GOOD HAIR.”

Rock released the film in 2009 which explores the importance of hair in black culture after being asked by his then-three-year-old daughter Lola, "Daddy, how come I don’t have good hair?”

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