Majid Michel: Will Smith’s slap on Chris Rock was a publicity stunt
The actor, producer and preacher said people should not believe everything they read and watch on television
Majid Michel, an actor, producer and preacher has said what happened at the Oscars involving Hollywood actor Will Smith and comedian Chris Rock was a publicity stunt.
Majid said entertainers sometimes create such scenes just to be on the front pages of newspapers.
Will Smith slapped Chris Rock in the face on stage at the Oscars after the comic made a joke about the actor’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
“Jada, can’t wait for GI Jane 2,” he said, in an apparent reference to her shaved hairdo – which is a result of the hair loss condition alopecia.
Smith walked on stage and struck Rock before returning to his seat and shouting: “Keep my wife’s name out of your [expletive] mouth.”
The US actor has since apologised and resigned from the Oscars Academy.
But speaking with Kent Mensah on Sunday Night on Asaase Radio, Majid said all that was a publicity stunt.
He said “We are quick to judge celebrities from a distance…I can come to you and tell you that at the Oscars all the media people are going to be there so this is what we going to do; we’re going to create something just to be on the front pages of tomorrow’s newspapers.
“So I tell you: ‘when you get up the stage say something like this, I’m going to come up there and slap you. And you’ll be like let’s do it’… This is what entertainment is all about and this is what we actually do. It is intentional and it wasn’t at the spur-of-the-moment. They [Will Smith and Chris Rock] knew what was going to happen…we [actors] are the rulers and controllers of the media. We decide what the people should think, see and hear. We decide the emotions of the people.”
He said he had personally been involved in such publicity stunts “ a couple of times” in the past.
The actor said people should not believe everything they read and watch.
“Don’t just believe it just like that. Don’t just take it as it comes…just entertain yourself and laugh about it.”
Watch the full interview below:
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