Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) on Monday passionately criticized actor Will Smith 's violent reaction to comedian Chris Rock jokin...
Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) on Monday passionately criticized actor Will Smith's violent reaction to comedian Chris Rock joking about his wife's shaved head at the Academy Awards.
The Minnesota Democrat said Smith hitting Rock on live television while the latter was presenting an Oscar is reflective of a greater 'erosion of self-control' spreading nationwide.
Phillips also seemed to turn his condemnation into a bizarre metaphor for COVID-19 when calling for a 'moral vaccination' as a solution to the rising prominence of violence in American society.
Jaws dropped across the world on Sunday night when Academy Award-winning actor Smith stormed onto the Dolby Theatre stage in Los Angeles, slapping Rock across the face after the comedian mocked Jada Pinkett Smith as 'G.I. Jane' apparently in reference to her appearance.
Pinkett Smith revealed in 2018 that she was battling alopecia, an autoimmune disorder that results in hair loss on the head and other parts of the body.
'The obnoxious episode on the Oscars stage last night encapsulates the very mean-spiritedness and erosion of self-control that are spreading in our streets, our schools, and our society,' Phillips wrote on Twitter the next morning.
'Both are diseases for which we need a moral vaccination.'
He added in a follow-up tweet: 'And a booster shot of civility.'
Rock had been presenting the award for best documentary feature at Sunday night's Academy Awards in Los Angeles when he told Pinkett Smith, 'Jada, I love you. GI Jane 2, I can't wait to see it.'
The Minnesota Democrat is one of several lawmakers giving their opinion of the now-viral Academy Awards incident
It was apparently in reference to her shaved head. The actress decided to cut her hair all the way down in December 2021, telling fans in an Instagram video that it was because of her alopecia.
While the Red Table Talk host just rolled her eyes, her husband stormed onto the stage and hit Rock -- stunning the star-studded audience at the Dolby Theatre.
US viewers watching the broadcast on ABC had their sound cut, but un-filtered versions spread across the internet like wildfire.
Smith can be heard shouting 'Keep my wife's name out of your f***ing mouth.'
Reactions from federal lawmakers ran the gamut from praising Smith to criticizing him.
Progressive Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) appeared to cheer the actor on in since-deleted tweets on Sunday night.
Pressley opened up about living with alopecia in 2020, roughly a year into her first term in Congress.
'#Alopecia nation stand up! Thank you #WillSmith Shout out to all the husbands who defend their wives living with alopecia in the face of daily ignorance & insults,' Pressley tweeted, according to Bloomberg.
Smack: The comedian was slapped in the face by Jada's husband Will after he stormed on stage when Chris jokingly compared her haircut to G.I. Jane
'#Oscars ... Women will baldies are for real men only. Boys need not apply.'
She punctuated the personal post with a black-and-white photo of herself with husband Conan Harris.
The Bloomberg reporter who shared Pressley's tweet noted that it was taken down soon after the congresswoman posted it.
Bowman did not invoke Smith or Pinkett Smith's names, but seemed to call the smack a learning lesson for Rock in a since-deleted tweet shared by .
'Teachable Moment: Don't joke about a Black Woman's hair,' the progressive wrote, according to reporter Ben Jacobs.
He then noted that the post was tweeted by Bowman's staff on the lawmaker's account because they thought the incident was staged.
Other lawmakers like Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) also condemned Rock's joke, but did not go so far as to condone Smith's apparent assault.
Pressley, who revealed her own battle with alopecia in 2020, deleted this tweet soon after posting it, according to Bloomberg reporter Grace Panetta
Another reporter highlighted this tweet by Bowman, which was reportedly made by his staff before they realized the incident was not staged
'I found Chris Rock's joke to be distasteful and disgusting. But there is no justification for a violent assault on live TV. None,' Torres wrote on Twitter.
His post, published at 11:15 p.m. Eastern, has remained live.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) mocked the entire incident, seemingly comparing it to media coverage of the 2020 Black Lives Matter demonstrations across the country that summer.
The unrest had been categorized as 'mostly peaceful' by some large outlets, despite images of rioting, smashed windows and apparent arson coming from some of the more unruly demonstrations.
'Seems the #Oscars were a mostly peaceful show,' Boebert tweeted on Monday morning.
Her fellow GOP Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) wrote on the site the same day: 'PRO TIP: Don’t watch any of the Hollywood Elitist awards shows.'
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) launched into a Twitter rant praising Smith and Rock for how they 'handled the issue.'
'I have to say I appreciate the Alpha male response of a husband defending his wife. It was settled and then no more drama. Chris Rock handled it like a man with no whining,' Greene wrote.
'It was much better than a Twitter fight with people saying tough things on their keyboard behind their screen. They handled the issue and then they actually carried on.'
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