Longtime Will Smith friend and collaborator, DJ Jazzy Jeff, is putting to rest the notion that the actor only smacked Chris Rock in defense of his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith because he wouldn’t get hit back. According to Jazzy Jeff, Smith would’ve even smacked boxing legend Mike Tyson if he joked about his wife.
During an interview for the Faq Podcast, via BET, DJ Jazzy Jeff dismissed the idea that Smith would’ve backed down from someone bigger or more intimidating than Chris Rock if they had joked about his wife the way Rock did at the Academy Awards. He insists that his friend wouldn’t have been afraid of anyone:
“When it happened and I saw him walk up there, the one thing I would say – ’cause I’ve had people say, ‘Oh he wouldn’t have done that to no gangsta.’ Let me tell you something about Will. Will is somebody that cliff dove in Jamaica and couldn’t swim. Will was the person that whatever he’s afraid of, he runs to. I ain’t got that in me. I don’t have that in me at all. I’ve watched Will almost die numerous times running straight.”
To really drive home his point, DJ Jazzy Jeff named Mike Tyson as someone Smith would’ve confronted no matter what the outcome would’ve been for the actor. Jazzy Jeff says Will Smith is very protective of his family and Jada and would take on a grizzly bear if it posed a threat to his loved ones:
“Will would’ve slapped Mike Tyson. It did not matter who was there. Will would’ve got his ass beat, but he was going to do what he was going to do regardless of who it was. It wasn’t for fake. It wasn’t for show. I have to protect. If that was a grizzly bear, he would have did it. I know him.”
It’s admirable that Will Smith will go to the ends of the Earth for his family BUT it still doesn’t justify his actions on Oscar night. At the end of the day, it was a joke and he should’ve let it roll off his back and maybe confronted Rock privately with works about why he thought it was inappropriate. I personally don’t think the actor should be canceled by any means but there’s no denying that he screwed up majorly on a night that should’ve been one of his finest as he finally took home the Best Actor Oscar for his role in King Richard. That moment will be forever linked to the slap and that’s a real shame.
What are YOUR thoughts on what DJ Jazzy Jeff had to say about Will Smith and the Oscar slap?